


Unbound

by dongyrn



Series: MCU: Unchained [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Avengers vs X-men, Don't Mess With The Panther's Sister, Gen, Melodramatic Villains, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9300533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dongyrn/pseuds/dongyrn
Summary: A new villain has entered the stage, and it's up to Caitlin and Rebecca Brown to take him down. When he becomes too much to handle, they're going to need to lean on more than just a few friends. Second major story after Unchained. Featuring X-Men, Avengers both old and new, as well as a few more MCU cameos.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Standard Disclaimer:** All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily Marvel, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing aside from my OCs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story picks up after _[Unchained](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9282002)_ as well as the one-shots _[Unleashed](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9300074)_ and _[Unclaimed](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9300227)_ and the short story _[Undaunted](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9300290)_.

Downtown New York City

 _Well, this seems familiar,_ Caitlin Brown mused to herself. She was scrambling across the rooftops of New York City, racing on bare feet as fast as she could

 _/There are differences, though,/_ her conscience, Chris, replied wryly.

A blast of ice appeared in front of her, making her yelp as she veered off to the side. _Yeah, maybe a few_ , she conceded.

_*Slippery situation, to be sure.*_

The small brunette girl snorted to herself as she hurtled over another parapet. She felt a flash of heat against her back as another fire bolt narrowly missed singeing her.

_I don't know why I thought I missed you, Eric._

_*Oh, now don't be like that, Cat. I gotta make up for lost time.*_

_You don't, really._

Her enhanced hearing picked up on the sound of running feet behind her, easily keeping up with her pace.

_Dammit, I can't lose her, there's no way I can… If I turn and fight, I'm dead._

_/You got a destination in mind?/_

_Not really, I'm just running until I can find help. I can run all the way to the Avengers if I need to._

_/Good a plan as any. It's a bit far, though./_

_Don't really have a choice here, Chris._

_*What about Stark Tower? It's close.*_

_No, Eric. No way in hell._

Coming up was a bit of a longer jump. She put on a little extra speed to make it but heard the distinctive _blink_ sound of a portal opening nearby.

_Oh no, not now…_

Just as she was about to make her jump, another cold projectile struck at her feet. The explosion of icy debris sent her gracelessly stumbling towards the edge when she was hit square in the back by a fiery blast, sending her over the side of the eight-story building. The pain of the impact on her body nearly made her black out. When she was able to regain her senses, she eyed the approaching ground from only a few meters up now.

_Yeah, this is gonna leave a mark._

* * *

New York City  
Four Hours Earlier

"I am not sure of the necessity of this," Rebecca commented somewhat humorously.

"What? Why not?" Caitlin grinned. "We're celebrating!"

"I realize that, yes, I am simply unsure why this is cause for celebration."

"It's a big deal!" her sister grinned enthusiastically. "Only happens once, in fact!"

Rebecca eyed the brunette girl sitting across from her at the cafe table suspiciously. "And did you celebrate as well when you lost your virginity?"

"I did!" she grinned in reply. "By having more sex!"

The redheaded girl, to all outward appearances a fairly normal-looking teenager, shook her head with a sigh. The pair of them together looked as if they might actually be twins, even though they were a couple of years apart in physical age. The similarities were due to their having come from the same Hydra laboratory, and the differences evident through their slightly dissimilar models.

Rebecca, with her silky long red hair, today tied back into a braid that fell past her shoulder blades, as well as a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, was rescued by Caitlin a little over six months ago from the lab. She had been grown as a pure combat model with enhanced strength, stamina, and reflexes. In addition, she'd been spliced with the mutant gene, courtesy of the Wolverine, to allow her a superior healing factor.

In contrast, Caitlin had brown curly hair that fell just past her shoulders. It was normally up in a ponytail but she'd left it unbound today. She'd been unintentionally activated almost three years ago and had escaped into New York City. The diminutive girl was an infiltrator model, though she'd not had much of the programming uploaded by that point, such as languages and social cues. Hence she'd had to pick up things as she went along, mostly due to the assistance of her 'residents', as she called them, three distinct personalities that activated her and guided her as best they could, through experience and muscle memory.

Caitlin had the added bonus of being able to transform into a few different forms, though she tended to stick with the common black housecat and panther forms exclusively. The third form was far too uncontrollable and dangerous for her to ever risk using again.

"I still do not see why this is worthy of celebration," Rebecca murmured as their waitress brought them their drinks, a pair of sweetened iced teas. "How did you come to the conclusion that having sex for the first time should warrant such?"

"Oh, is that what we're celebrating today?" the waitress, a pretty blonde woman asked, her eyes twinkling merrily. "Well, congrats, hon!"

Caitlin grinned victoriously as she moved away again. "See? It's a thing."

The redheaded girl sighed resignedly. "Very well, then. I am glad you are with me to celebrate."

"That's what sisters are for, silly."

"I can think of many things sisters are for, not all of them complimentary."

"Oh, now you're just being snarky."

Rebecca gazed into her glass, eyebrows furrowed. "Caitlin?"

"Yeah, Becca?"

"You do not think that I… love you less, now that I am closer to Sam, do you?"

"What?" Caitlin leaned over with a reassuring smile on her face, reaching across to clasp hands with the other girl. "Becca, we're sisters. It's a different kind of love. We're family, and we always will be, no matter what."

Rebecca blinked her pale green eyes. "No matter what?"

"No matter what."

"I see." She looked down again, this time at their entwined hands. "I do not know what I would have done without you, Caitlin. You… completed me, filled my emptiness when my resident was burned away. Yet you also have given me purpose and filled my being with… joy, I believe." She looked up again but was startled to see her sister's matching pale green eyes filled with tears. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"Not upset, Becca," Caitlin whispered happily. "I'm just… I'm glad I found you too. I can't imagine life without you now."

They sat like that for a while, staring at each other with smiles on their faces, until the waitress returned with their order. Caitlin released her hold on Rebecca's hand so that she might unwrap her silverware.

"So, this 'cheesecake', it is not actually cheese?" Rebecca queried, eyeing her plate suspiciously.

"Not so much. Just filled with creamy goodness. Go on, take a bite!"

The redhead complied, pulling the fork out and chewing thoughtfully. "That is quite pleasant," she murmured, reaching down for another bite.

"I know, right?" Caitlin mumbled around her own fork. "It's delicious!"

The pair sat in silence and enjoyed their cheesecake until their plates were clean. Caitlin pulled out her wallet from her green capris cargo pants and left enough bills to cover their meal, plus a decently-sized tip.

"Caitlin, you have soiled your shirt."

The brunette looked down to see that her undersized bust had managed to catch a glob of the cheesecake. "At least it's white," she muttered, dabbing at her tank top with a napkin. "Freaking size-A's and they still get food on them…"

"As skilled as you are in combat, you manage to remain a somewhat messy eater," Rebecca commented, standing up. Her jeans and dark blue crop top were, of course, immaculate.

"I'm a carnivore," she joked back. "We're messier than you eaters of rabbit food."

"I am a vegetarian," she corrected as they walked out the cafe and onto the street. "Not a rabbit."

Caitlin snorted a laugh, but before she could issue a retort her Stark Industries phone rang. She pulled it out of her back pocket to see an unrecognized number. Brow furrowed in curiosity, she answered the call and stopped on the sidewalk.

"Yes, hello?"

"Is this Caitlin Brown?"

"Yep, you got it. Who's this?"

"Caitlin, this is Scott Summers, from the Xavier school."

The brunette pulled the phone away from her ear so that her sister, whose hearing was as enhanced as hers, could easily listen in. "Hello, Mr. Summers, it's been awhile. What can I do for you?" She was quick to become more polite in her attitude, as she knew Cyclops was a senior member of the X-Men, even though she'd not worked with him much before.

"We have a situation, a serious one. Many of the X-Men are here in Europe, including the Professor, but we were hoping you could help out."

"Of course, Mr. Summers, anything. My sister and I are in NYC right now, do you need us to go somewhere else?"

"No, actually, that's perfect. Allow me to explain."

Summers proceeded to reveal how several mutant children had disappeared from the school. They were on a field trip with some of the teenaged X-Men to visit a museum when they were noticed to be missing. Blink, Kitty, Bobby, and Johnny left to track down their whereabouts while Rogue brought the remaining children back to the school safely. The last Rogue heard from the other four was that they had tracked the missing mutants to a warehouse there in New York, but then their transmission ended. That was four hours ago, and they haven't heard anything since.

Caitlin glanced at her sister, who was listening attentively and raised her eyebrows. Rebecca gave a solemn nod back.

"Alright, Mr. Summers. Becca and I will go check out this address. We don't have comms with us, but I'll call you back at this number when we find something out."

"Thank you, Caitlin. Please be careful. We hope to be finished up here soon and should be back tonight."

Caitlin ended the call and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "Why is it always warehouses?' she mused absently as the sisters changed course to stride down a different side street. "Why can't it be someplace cool like an art gallery, or a toy factory, or something…"

"If we are to engage in combat, I would prefer to do so in a place with low intrinsic value," Rebecca commented.

"True enough. Less fun, though."

"Possibly. There are many types of warehouses, however."

"Ooh, also true, maybe they'll be something cool stored in there like… I dunno…"

"Robotics?"

"Oh, God, yes that would be amazing. A battle in a robot factory? Legendary. Even more, if they somehow get activated and start roaming around… I'm gettin' chills just thinking about it."

Rebecca chuckled lightly. "You are still easily entertained."

"Always have been, always will be."

They reached the address in question, pausing around the corner to eye the large structure.

"Seems pretty ordinary," Caitlin murmured.

"From the outside," Rebecca agreed. "Up top?"

"Yep. You lead, I'll follow."

With a tight grin, Rebecca streaked across the deserted street and into an alleyway between the warehouse in question and an abandoned textile factory. She leapt back and forth between the walls, kicking off each brick surface to bring herself to the rooftop. Caitlin followed her once she was above the warehouse.

The pair stalked forward towards a skylight that was murky and clouded. Enough vision was allowed for them to see inside, though they didn't lean directly over it so as not to block light and alert those within to their presence.

Caitlin gazed at the stacks of shipping containers. "Boring…" she griped.

"Oh, hush," Rebecca chided gently. "No sign of anyone. Shall we access here?"

The small brunette crept around the circumference of the skylight, examining the edges both inside and out. "No alarms or locks. But it's gonna make noise."

"Any means of entry will create noise. It is inevitable. At least we are able to observe the lack of alarms here."

"Yeah, you've got a point."

"Of course I do."

"If you say, because you're the more intelligent sister, I will drop you through that skylight on your head."

Rebecca blinked her eyes innocently. "I assure you, the thought never crossed my mind, sister."

Caitlin snorted, but couldn't conceal her grin. "You're so full of shit. Alright, here goes…"

She eased her fingers under the edge, testing the give of it. There seemed to be enough to indicate easy entry, so she gave Rebecca a nod before flinging it open.

The redheaded girl jumped down, landing three stories below in a crouch. A split second later Caitlin joined her.

The two girls immediately spied a pair of motionless forms standing against one of the shipping containers, tucked away from where they'd been able to observe from above.

Caitlin touched her sister briefly on the arm, and with a nod slipped off into the shadows to the left while Rebecca did the same to the right. They circled around until they could see the figures with better clarity.

"Blink! Kitty!" the brunette hissed, striding forward to stand in front of the two.

Both the alabaster-skinned and purple-haired Blink and the short brunette Kitty, the latter similar enough to Caitlin that some assumed they were related somehow, stood at attention with their arms at their sides. Their eyes were closed, but when Caitlin approached both opened them simultaneously, causing her to suck in a startled breath.

Their irises and sclera were completely enveloped by a blackness that filled the entire eyeball.

They made no other move, however. Caitlin crept backwards slowly to be joined by her sister. "That is eerie as hell," she whispered. "What's wrong with them?"

"I do not know," Rebecca murmured back. "But we should leave and report our findings."

Caitlin nodded, not taking her eyes off of her seemingly frozen friends. "Yeah. Okay."

"Now, now, don't leave just yet!" a jovial voice called out.

The sisters turned to see a man standing on top of a shipping container on the far side of the cavernous room. He wore what looked to be black tights with dark purple underpants over them and wore a ridiculous Dracula-themed cape, though also in dark purple. It was long and flowy with a high starched collar that rose up to the tips of his ears. He had a mop of greasy black hair on his head and had his arms stretched out wide, the cape billowing out like a gigantic purple bat.

"Oh. My. God." Caitlin let out a merry giggle. "What the hell is he supposed to be?"

"If his attire is to be believed, I am assuming a villain of some sort," Rebecca commented, the sides of her mouth quirking upwards.

"But… But… God, that outfit!"

"True, it is a bit much."

"It's like a goth wannabe actually got bit by a vamp!"

"The color scheme is impressive, however."

"Well, true, yeah he's got that going for him."

The man by this point had dropped his arms and crossed them, tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you two quite done?" he asked querulously.

"Oh, sorry, were you about to monologue?" Caitlin snarked.

Rebecca took a step forward. "First we would like to know what you have done to our friends, and where our other friends are located."

Instead of replying, the man grinned slyly and snapped his fingers. Blink moved finally, her hands whipping up and outwards to form multiple portals all around the sisters.

Within a few heartbeats, Rebecca and Caitlin were surrounded by the missing mutants and Blink caused the portals to disappear once again.

They swiveled, looking out among the black-eyed children and teens. Some unrecognized adults stood silently as well. Bobby and Johnny were there, Iceman and Pyro, though they didn't take an aggressive stance of any sort, just stood there blankly once they crossed over the portals.

Caitlin hitched her breath as she recognized one of the mutant children, a small blonde girl named Jillian who had become attached to her when she taught combat classes at the school.

"Oh, no, Jilly-bean," she sighed. Turning to the melodramatic man, she shot him an angry glare. "Alright, fine, you're big and bad and all, what did you do to them?"

"What did I do?" he asked, having walked across the tops of the containers. He was now standing close enough, on top of another container, that the girls could see his irises were completely black so that it looked as if his pupils were greatly dilated. "Why, I embraced them! Showed them all the promise of utopia!"

"This would appear to be slavery," Rebecca stated, her own anger tinting her words. "Not utopia."

"Yes, well, the path to utopia is long, and to get there I require soldiers."

"Alright, asshole, enough." Caitlin flexed her hands and prepared to grow them into claws. "Release them all or I'm gonna eviscerate you."

"Such ferocity!" the man laughed. "But I have not revealed my name yet. My name is Pied Piper!"

The sisters turned to each other and shrugged.

"Really?" Piper asked incredulously. "You don't… Haven't you read the fairy tale?"

"We did not have a childhood," Rebecca replied.

"Well, in any case, I take my name from what I can do. Observe!" He swept his hands grandiosely around to encompass the enslaved mutants.

The sisters glanced at each other again and once again shrugged. "Um, yeah, you know that didn't do anything, right?" Caitlin asked.

"That is because I didn't do it yet, you little twit!" he barked irritably. His hands began to move in an intricate pattern before him.

Caitlin stared up at him, still unimpressed. "What exactly is it you're doing?"

He dropped his hands with a sigh. "I see, you must not have the mutant gene then."

A cold wash of fear swept through the brunette girl's veins, and she slowly turned to look at her sister.

Rebecca now stood motionless as the rest, her eyes opaque pools of black.

_Guys? We are in a major shitload of trouble here…_

"Well," Piper harrumphed, "if you're not part of my army, you're an enemy." He turned with a flourish of his cape and strode off into the darkness, his hand waving carelessly over his shoulder. "Eliminate her," he said casually.

* * *

Downtown New York City

Caitlin raced ahead on her bare feet. She'd lost both her sandals earlier when Bobby had tried to freeze her in place, and her cellphone had been fried by a stray blast of static electricity from one of the mutant children. The response of the enslaved mutants had been uncoordinated and slow, allowing her to escape so far, but she knew without turning that Rebecca would be right behind her.

If she stopped, her sister would catch her, and she'd be dead. Because there was no way she could fight her off as well as Bobby and Johnny, now also in hot pursuit thanks to Blink's portals.

And then her jump was interrupted by the dual combination attack of ice and fire, and she was sent tumbling to the ground, unable to shift quickly enough to let the panther take the impact.

Just as she was bracing herself for a heavy dose of crippling pain, her fall was arrested. She somehow found herself to be swinging like a pendulum to end up on the roof across the street.

She landed in a tumble, rolling to a crouch to face her new adversary, only to drop her defensive posture in shock.

"You!" she uttered, stunned.

"Oh, you know me?" the red-and-blue masked man asked, crouched on the edge of the parapet. "So, are you in the I-hate-Spidey-and-wanna-roast-him camp or the yay-Spidey-is-awesome group?"

"Um," Caitlin blinked her eyes uncertainly, still mentally trying to catch up with the situation. "More the latter than the former?"

"Cool!" Spider-Man exclaimed, leaping over her head to end up squatting against the wall of the next building over. "So, why were you being chased, and being thrown off a roof and all? I saw you move, not just a typical teenager, are you?"

"Um, no I'm not," she began, but then whirled as a _blink_ sounded behind her. "Oh, shit… Okay, long story short, they're friends but being mind-controlled, okay?"

"My kinda summary!" the webslinger replied merrily. He fired a strand of web up onto the tall antenna of the building Caitlin was standing on and jumped off, soaring around wide. "I'll be gentle!"

As Johnny and Bobby exited the portal, Spider-Man slammed into them, sending both to the floor. He flicked his wrists and more web strands flew out to envelop them, pinning them to the rooftop.

"Now, then," he began but was interrupted by a flying redhead figure that charged into him. He took a rapid combo of hits and kicks to his abdomen and legs but managed to block the follow-up strikes.

"No, Spidey, leave her to me!" Caitlin pleaded. "She's my sister!"

"Sure thing, toots. Hey, you called me Spidey! Does that mean we're buddies now?" He leapt back and clung to the antenna about ten feet up. Rebecca started forward but was intercepted by Caitlin. They began to whirl around each other, spinning out kicks and punches while blocking as they were able.

"Yeah… I think I'll just stay out of that one…" Spider-Man glanced over at his two previous opponents to see that Johnny had already burned off his webbing and Bobby froze his, shattering the strands.

"Oh, come on," he yelped as he sprang off his perch to avoid a fiery blast. "Can't you just lay down for a minute? Take a load off? Running across rooftops is hard work, I understand if you wanna rest…"

As he soared over their heads, his landing site suddenly turned into a patch of ice. "Oh, wait, I know this one," he joked. "Make the nimble guy slip and fall, take away his mobility… Pass!"

He shot a strand of web out to connect with the top of the antenna again, halting his drop and flinging him back as if attached to a bungee cord. He shot another strand at the building across from them, behind the pair of mutants, in order to fling himself at them again.

"And that, my friends, is why webslingers are superior-"

His words were cut off as Bobby froze a section of the new web strand. It snapped, and instead of flinging him forward, he continued on his previous trajectory to smack into the antenna. He dropped to the ground with a grunt.

"Me and my big mouth," he moaned, rolling back to his feet. He had to skip to the side to avoid another blast of fire, and then noticed another presence on the roof with them, a purple-haired girl with pale skin and tattoos of the same purple around her eyes.

"Well, hey there, short, cute, and purple, come join the party!" He fired off a shot of webbing to grab her and pull her in for use as a shield but she flung her hand up first. Portals appeared directly in front of her and directly behind Spider-Man, causing his web to hit himself in the back of the head.

"Oh, now, that's just embarrassing," the webslinger remarked. "Hey, mystery-girl! You done playing around yet?"

"Not gonna be done… anytime soon…" Caitlin huffed out as she dodged a strike to her solar plexus. She sent a high kick flying out but Rebecca blocked it, throwing a counter-punch to her chest that hit home, staggering her backwards. "We're evenly matched!"

"Now that is unwelcome news," he replied with a sigh, eyeing the three mutants arrayed in front of him. "I don't suppose we can talk this out? Maybe over a nice pizza or something? No? C'mon, everyone likes pizza…"

In reply, Johnny sent another blast of fire his way. He tumbled to the side and shot a wad of webbing at his eyes, blinding him temporarily. Bobby, meanwhile, sent a bolt of ice off to the side, back where he was originally.

"Um, little slow on the uptake, huh?" Spider-Man asked.

Blink had already placed a portal at Bobby's target and another behind the webslinger once again. The wintry blast took him in the back, knocking him forward into a roll.

"Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice…" He rolled to the side once more as Johnny, free of the web blindfold, attacked once more. "Well, yeah, still makes me look like an idiot."

Spider-Man danced to the side, dodging the ice and fire attacks from all quarters, some from directly ahead and some from other various vectors due to Blink's ability. "Wait, I know this tune," he sang out as he shot a quick strand at the parapet behind them. "You're hot and you're cold, you're yes and you're no…"

The webslinger shot forward, knocking Johnny's feet out from under him. He pushed up with his hands, kicking back into Bobby, but Blink interjected a portal and he found himself hanging over the middle of the street.

"Okay, that was unexpected," he yelped. Firing a web strand first at the opposite building and then the one across from where he originated from, he sent himself soaring back into the fray. Johnny and Bobby had turned to assault Caitlin but Spider-Man crashed into the both of them. In close proximity finally, he let loose with his webbing again, this time tying the two of them together.

"Alright!" he crowed. "Now for you, cutie…"

Blink portaled to the other side of the roof, keeping ahead of the advancing webslinger. "Hey, come on, I'm not that bad!" he protested as she escaped another volley of web projectiles. "I showered this morning and everything!"

Just as he was beginning to detect a pattern in Blink's portals, there was a resounding _crash_ of noise. He spun to see the small brunette girl up against the antenna, groaning and shaking her head to clear it. From the look of her redheaded sister, though, she wasn't about to get the time.

"Whoops! Time for the signature Spidey rescue!" he said, shooting a strand at the prone girl and another up to the top of the antenna. As he flew up he brought a squealing Caitlin with him until they were both thirty feet up and staring down.

"Holy shit!" Caitlin panted.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Spider-Man commented wryly. "That and, 'I'll sue you for whiplash, you menace!'"

A new sound joined the fray, pausing Rebecca as she crouched to renew her attack. The pair clinging to the antenna looked up to see an approaching glow getting brighter.

"Oh, no," Caitlin groaned. "Not him. Anyone but him, please, I do _not_ want to be rescued by _him_!"

"Friend of yours?"

"No, no he's not, he's-"

With a resounding _crack_ of impact, a red and gold figure landed on the rooftop and straightened, surveying the scene imperiously.

"Iron Man," the brunette sighed resignedly.

Rebecca immediately ran towards the still-bound Johnny and Bobby, scooping the pair of them up and leaping through the portal Blink had made. In the space of a heartbeat, the three heroes were alone.

Iron Man looked upwards at the pair of figures, the brunette girl, barefoot and dirty, clinging to the red-and-blue costumed webslinger who had his arms securely wrapped around her.

He raised his visor and smirked. "Hey there, Kitten!" Tony Stark called out jovially. "I thought you were into girls! Is that your boyfriend now?"

Spider-Man looked at the irritated girl in his arms. "So, not so much into the guys?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

He sighed morosely. "Story of my life." He sprang off of the antenna and landed, letting the girl go when they were back on the ground again.

"I'm Caitlin, by the way," she smiled at the webslinger. "Thanks for the save."

"Hey, what's a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for?" he joked back.

"Uh, hello, heroic Avenger here," Stark protested. "I came in the nick of time, thank you very much."

"Former Avenger," Caitlin corrected with a shake of her head. "And we were doing just fine."

"Yeah, which is why they ran off when I popped up."

The small brunette flung her hands upwards, growling. "Fine! You want me to say it? Thank you, Tony Stark, for rescuing me."

"Yep, all I needed," he smirked in reply. "Especially since I have it on recording now. I'll use it as a screensaver. Now, then, since one of those people attacking you was your sister, and the other three known X-Men, I'd say we have some talking to do." He closed his visor. "Meet me at the tower. Arachno-Boy, give your girlfriend a lift."

He fired his thrusters and lifted off in the direction of Stark Tower.

"I hate that man so very, very much," Caitlin muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes, it's more Avengers/X-Men/MCU goodness with Rebecca and Caitlin. Whee! And we got Spidey in the mix, as well as a few other planned cameos. The dastardly Pied Piper must be stopped! (Did I do a decent job of portraying a completely over-the-top melodramatic villain? I'll keep working on him…)
> 
> So just to make sure it's clear, my Pied Piper is an OC villain, not related to the one in the DC Universe. Far as I can tell, there's not one by that name within Marvel.
> 
> At this point, when I originally published this story on FF.net in October of 2015, I had branched out a bit, taking a bit of a risk, as it were. With _Unchained_ I tried very hard not to contradict MCU canon or the established timeline. But I didn't know for sure how they were going to bring Spidey in for _Civil War_ , and other cameos would experience similar difficulties. So I hoped for the best, praying that this story wouldn't sound like complete idiocy once those movies came out. I think I managed to keep most of the egg off of my face.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	2. Chapter 2

Stark Tower  
Downtown New York City

Caitlin paced irritably around the conference room at Stark Tower. Spider-Man was sitting back in one of the comfortable chairs, his feet kicked up on the table. He'd pulled his mask up to his nose so that he might munch on a bag of potato chips that Stark had offered in his immense generosity.

_/Bitter much?/_

_Shut it. Not in the mood._

She'd been stewing in a sea of recriminations, aimed at herself, and hostility, aimed at her host since she'd arrived. And the diminutive brunette wasn't about to let her residents deter her.

They should have waited for backup, or at least gotten out as soon as they found Kitty and Blink. They should have, at the very least, escaped right off the bat when the Pied Piper showed up, not stood around and made fun of him like the freaking amateur comedian hour. She shouldn't have left her sister behind.

She should have taken better care of Rebecca.

"Hey, Kitten," Stark tried to coax her into a seat with the offer of a bottled sweetened tea. "C'mon, have a seat. Nothing you can do right now."

"Nothing I can do…" she muttered irritably, not pausing in her pacing. "Of course there's nothing I can do, fucking useless excuse for a sister, what the fuck did I think I was doing, running in there with no plan, no preparation…"

"Don't start that," Stark warned soothingly. "There's no use-"

"What?" Caitlin barked angrily, rounding on the billionaire. "No use for what? Telling it how it is? That I'm too stupid to have realized, hey if all the kidnapped victims are mutants, maybe I shouldn't take my mutant sister in there? That I shouldn't have left her behind? That I'm a- a- a fucking failure as a sister? The one person in this whole world I had to protect, and now she's been taken by that fucking madman?"

She stood there, glaring and panting after her tirade. Spider-Man cleared his throat uncertainly.

"Um, I'm not sure what the history is here," he began meekly. "Buuut maybe we shouldn't fight among ourselves, save it for the bad guys?"

Stark stood up, adjusting the cuffs on his plaid shirt that was open to a dark-colored Ratt tee shirt over his jeans. "No, it's okay," he said quietly, holding Caitlin's piercing pale green-eyed gaze with his own. "I get it, you've got serious frustrations, nobody's blaming you for them. You need to let it out, do so."

Caitlin narrowed her eyes and upped the wattage in her glare. "You do _not_ want me to vent without you in your suit," she growled. Spinning on her heel, she strode towards the door. "I need some air," she grumbled, wrenching the door open. There was a creak of metal as she warped the frame in her haste to exit.

"Wow," she heard the webslinger murmur behind her. "She really _does_ hate you."

She walked down the hallway and into the living room where she'd spent time with the old Avengers group. Heading past the room, sparing only a passing glance at the slight crater in the middle of the floor that still existed from a certain demi-god's frequent impact, she strode out onto the balcony and stared out across the night sky.

And finally allowed the tears to fall.

The small brunette girl felt very tiny and insignificant, standing on the side of the immense tower under the vast starry sky. But right then and there, she vowed to herself that she would find a way to retrieve her sister and make her whole again, or she would die trying.

Her hearing picked up on footsteps from inside heading her way. She sniffled and wiped her face on the hem of her dirty and ragged tank top before turning to see Stark open the door.

"Time to go, kid," he said quietly.

She nodded and followed him, the sound of the approaching quinjet now audible.

* * *

Avenger's Training Facility  
Upstate New York

She was dreading this moment, having to face them all. But she knew it had to happen. She had to face judgment for her failure as a friend, as a sister. As a former Avenger.

Stark and Spider-Man entered the situation room first. The former introduced the latter, but she didn't pay attention to the response. She was curled up in a tight little ball of misery internally, so much so that she didn't even notice her residents had fallen silent.

Eventually, she heard her name called, and she shuffled forward, small, barefoot, and dirty.

Caitlin looked up and saw the pitying gazes from her friends, Avengers old and new. The only faces missing were Thor and Bruce Banner.

And, of course, Rebecca.

Finally, her gaze rested on Sam, and her resolve crumbled. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Sam…"

The tears ran down her face again, this time unchecked, as her tiny frame was wracked by great sobs of remorse. She closed her eyes, unwilling to see them anymore, unwilling to face their scrutiny, and covered her mouth with her hands.

She felt two sets of arms encircle her from either side, one soft and feminine, though with the muscle to back them up, and the other lean and masculine.

"Don't you do that to yourself, Cat," she heard Sam murmur above her head. "Don't go there, you are not responsible."

"But I was!" she wailed. "I didn't protect her! I left her behind!"

"Stark told us what happened, _kotenok koshka_ ," Natasha whispered from the other side in her husky voice. "You did what you could, no one can blame you for what happened."

"I do," she sobbed. "I blame myself."

Sam let go and crouched down, bringing himself down so that she would look at him. He pulled Caitlin's hands down from her mouth and then placed a hand on either side of her face, smoothing away her tears with his thumbs.

"I have never seen a pair of siblings that care for each other the way you two do," he stated sincerely. "Even those connected through birth. I know, Cat, I know with all of my heart that you would not have left her unnecessarily. We'll get her back, all of us, okay?"

Caitlin nodded glumly, and as her mood lifted slightly she could once again hear inside herself.

_*Jesus, girl, don't do that to us again!*_

_I'm sorry, guys… I just…_

_/It's okay, Cat, we understand. You just shut us out completely. Listen to Sam, though, he speaks the truth of it./_

_Yeah, I… I know that, I do._

Sniffling, she sat down in the remaining empty spot. Barton had gotten up while she walked over, and stopped by her seat to drop a handful of tissues in front of her. She smiled wanly at him and took advantage of them while he regained his seat.

"Professor Xavier, do you have any knowledge of this Pied Piper?" Fury asked.

Caitlin glanced up to see Xavier's face on the briefing screen. From the background it seemed as if he were in some sort of study, but not one she was familiar with.

"None of us have heard from him before, and he is not in our records," the Professor said in his sonorous and cultured voice. "He must be fairly powerful, though, to be controlling so many powerful mutants."

"I agree," Fury replied solemnly. "He isn't in our databases either, nor anyone with his reported abilities." He turned towards Caitlin, noting that she'd managed to get control of her emotions. "Miss Brown, do you have anything to add?"

Caitlin looked down at the table, frowning. "He's got Pyro, Iceman, Blink, and Shadowcat," she started, careful to use their codenames. "A number of children, as well as a few adults I didn't recognize. I don't know what it was he did to take Becca over, but it had no effect on me. He seemed to admit that it was only effective on those with the mutant gene."

"And it's got a crazy range," Spider-Man piped up. "The warehouse on the address there is half a borough away from where I found her. If he could control them from there? That's pretty scary."

"Suffice to say visual range is not a factor in his control," Xavier mused. "I think, with this information, I will be delaying our return across the ocean. I will also be ordering a lockdown at the school."

"Would you like additional help in securing the grounds?" Fury asked politely.

"No, thank you," Xavier smiled, his eyes hard. "Not that we do not trust government agents on the grounds of a school for mutants, but, well…"

"Say no more," Fury chuckled. "We'll keep you advised, Professor."

After he signed off, the tall and imposing man turned back to the conference table with a sigh. He eyed a small hole near the center, one made some time ago by a certain redheaded girl. "Few months ago, one of our own went missing," he began quietly. "We got her back." He looked solemnly at Caitlin. "Once an Avenger, always an Avenger. We'll get your sister back as well, Caitlin."

"Thank you, sir," she replied quietly but earnestly.

"Hill, what do we have," he ordered, standing up straight again.

"I've got reports all over the country of groups of young folk, all with solid black eyes, robbing certain mechanical and electrical facilities," Maria reported briskly, her head down and gazing intently at her datapad.

"Civilian or military?" Rhodes asked sharply.

"Civilian only for now. All accounts say that they grab what they need and make a quick escape via a purple-hued portal."

"This isn't just a local problem," Stark interjected, leaping to his feet and pacing around while holding his phone. "It's global. If we go off of those criteria…" He paused by the main screen and gave his phone a little flick towards it, taking it over with his own display.

Fury looked like he just bit down on something sour, obviously tiring of the number of times the man seemed to simply commandeer any display he deemed necessary.

On the screen, however, was a large world map. And on it were several pinpoints of red light, not just across the United States but in Central Europe, Scandinavia, Western Russia, India, Japan…

"How can they reach this far?" Wanda murmured.

"Can this teleporter, Blink, travel such distances?" Vision asked probingly.

"She could, yeah," Caitlin replied hesitantly. "She's got limitations on her portals, though, I think… I don't know if she can teleport somewhere she can't see or hasn't been."

Fury nodded thoughtfully. "All right, we'll set that aside and work on it as we get more data. Let's compile a list of what's being taken."

Between Hill and Stark, the list was put together and placed up on the main screen.

"Mostly low-tech equipment, small stuff…" Stark mused, looking it over. "Assembly parts, mechanicals… Friday, darling, run that list through-"

"Boss, I have an intrusion alert inside the tower," Friday's computerized female voice interrupted.

"On-screen," Stark barked.

A window opened to show a small storage room with racks of equipment. It was empty of activity.

"False alarm?" Rhodes asked quietly.

"Friday doesn't do false alarms," Stark muttered. "Any more than Jarvis did. Let's have the video playback."

The window picture fizzled as the image rewound in time until the image of an individual was present. "Freeze frame!" Stark ordered.

There was Kitty, in mid-phase through the wall, her eyes black pools empty of light and expression vacant.

"Dammit, Kitty," Stark said, so softly that only Caitlin could hear it. He allowed the video to play at normal speed. It showed the brunette mutant phasing in, immediately going to a small object on the shelf, and grabbing the object before sinking through the floor.

"Boss, the alarm was triggered at exactly zero-four-seven-six on the tape."

Stark moved it back to that exact time, and it showed Kitty just as she was reaching for whatever her target had been on the shelf.

"So she had to phase back in to grab it and make her getaway," Barton mused.

"That's not right, though," Caitlin murmured with a frown. "I've seen Kitty in action, worked with her. She's got fine enough control now that she could have grabbed it and phased without becoming, what's the word… Oh! Corporeal! She shouldn't have had to become corporeal first!"

Wanda drummed her fingers on the table. "So what does this mean?"

"Perhaps this Pied Piper is actually controlling the girl fully, like a puppet," Sam proposed. "And he's maybe not fully aware of her abilities."

"Or," Natasha interjected, "he's not as in control as he thinks. Maybe she triggered the alarm on purpose to let us know what she took."

"What _did_ she take, Stark?" Fury queried.

"It's a nothing part," Stark replied irritably, looking at his phone. He flicked it again and the main display changed to show a three-dimensional model of a small engine-looking device. "A calibration motor for the rooftop satellite. Pricey piece of tech, but not irreplaceable."

"How'd this girl know it was there?" Rhodes asked.

"Well, K-, um, Shadowcat, she used to work for me part-time," Stark explained. "Did some consultation work, sweet kid, good with computers. She'd been in that room before, I'm sure, getting parts for me. Maybe Piper just accessed her memory?"

Fury sighed and rose to his feet. "This is still a lot of conjecture," he stated calmly. "What can we put together from all this so far?"

"I've got something," Caitlin said hesitantly. All eyes zeroed in on her, and she cleared her throat before continuing. "Well, why was this one done by Shadowcat by herself? Why not Blink and the rest, like with the others? What's different about this one?"

Stark nodded thoughtfully, pacing back and forth in front of the screen. "Yeah, yeah, all the other items were pretty common, low-tech items. This, this wasn't terribly important, but significantly higher tech. Friday, throw this part into the mix," he ordered. "Any ideas on what they're trying to build?"

There was a moment's hesitation before Friday replied. "There are still a large number of items it could be, Boss, anything from a satellite dish to an actual satellite. It's still too big of a list to narrow down."

"Alright then, keep at it as you get more reports," he sighed, tossing his phone on the table.

"But what about the ones we're _not_ getting?" Natasha asked, one eyebrow raised. "If this Shadowcat is able to slip in and out of other areas, she could be the one gathering items that would tell us what they're building."

"And we've got no real way to track her," Stark grumbled. "No other place has security like my buildings."

"So what do we do?" Spider-Man asked, having been fairly quiet up to this point.

"Way I see it, we've got three courses of action to take," Fury began, his hands behind his back. "One, we wait for Shadowcat to pop up again. Not very proactive, but Stark can program some sort of whiz-bang algorithm to do that."

Stark snorted humorously. "Yeah, I'll take care of the 'whiz-bang'."

"Second," Fury continued, unfazed, "we need to figure out where they're gonna hit. I'm looking at these dates, and it seems their targets have moved from outside the country to inside. The international robberies were done no sooner than an hour ago, the others stateside are still ongoing. So let's put a list together of potential targets and get some of us in position, stat."

"And third?" Spider-Man prompted.

"Third," Fury smiled grimly, "follows from number two. We need to capture one of these stolen mutants somehow."

The assembled personnel looked around at each other. That was a pretty tall order to fill.

They were all going to have their work cut out for them that evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not much action in this one. I'm telling the story in one go in a pure chapter format, as with _Invincible_ , unlike some of my others, like _Unchained_ or _Nothing in the Verse_ , which told the story over the course of independent standalone chapter episodes.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	3. Chapter 3

Boston

"So, you're tellin' me, with those itty-bitty arrows of yours, you stopped an alien invasion and defeated a robotic army?" Spider-Man asked incredulously.

"Yep, pretty much," Barton replied, peering out into the night.

"Dude," he said worshipfully, "you are badass."

Caitlin laughed softly. "Clint, I think you got a fan club," she smirked.

Caitlin, Barton, and Spider-Man had pulled duty on top of a warehouse across the street from an address that Stark's algorithm said was a likely target. Other small teams of two had been created and spread throughout the nation, coast to coast.

Theirs was the only three-person team, but she figured it was likely because of one of them being an unknown factor and herself not even being an actual Avenger anymore.

She tried not to think about the fact that Fury might also have been worried about her own stability.

"So, what's your deal?" Barton was asking. "Strength of a spider and all?"

"Yeah, long story short, got bit by a radioactive spider, woke up uber-powerful, eventually decided to wear a red-and-blue spandex outfit. Sexy as it is, I still can't manage to pick up the ladies in it."

"Doesn't help when you hit on the lesbians," Caitlin grinned in the darkness.

"Wait, what?" Barton laughed. "You tried to pick up Cat?"

"It was the heat of the moment! She was in my arms and all, and I wasn't exactly hitting on her, okay? What are you, her big brother?"

"Pretty much," Caitlin snickered.

"Well, damn," the webslinger sighed. "Lemme guess, you're gonna take me out behind the schoolyard and beat me up?"

"Nah," Barton smirked. "Why bother? I can hit you with an arrow at a klick's distance, no need to chase you down."

"That's so reassuring," Spider-Man retorted. "Okay, so Cat. Can I call you Cat?"

"Sure, go for it."

"So then, Cat. What's your story? Obvious with the enhancements, I saw you go full-tilt, what else do you have up your lack of sleeves?"

Caitlin snorted, glancing down at her still torn and dirty clothes, including the tank top that by now might as well serve as a bikini it was so torn at the waist. She'd not taken the time to change, understandably.

"I can transform."

"Oh, yeah? Into what? Wait, please say a little kitty-cat…"

"Um, yeah, one of them is a kitty."

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"A cat called Cat. It's perfect. I mean, it'd be weird if you were called Cat and could turn into a dog, right?"

" _You're_ weird," she retorted humorously.

"So what else besides the kitty?"

"A panther."

"Sweeet! Can I see?"

"I would, but my clothes don't change with me."

"Still not hearing any objections from ol' Spidey here."

Without even looking over, Barton reached out and smacked the webslinger upside the back of his head.

"Ow! Yeah, okay, had that coming. So, no demonstrations?"

"Not now, please… Look me up later, alright?"

"I can definitely do that, miss kitty-cat."

Caitlin grinned again and shook her head humorously. She was fairly certain that Spider-Man was more of a teen from his speech patterns and the like. Reminded her a little bit of Lisa in the way he tended to chatter on. She didn't find it annoying, though, and actually thought he was kinda sweet.

"So, Webhead," Barton snarked, "how do you make those web things?"

"What, the web shooters? Made them myself. Cool, huh?"

"Very much so. Doesn't sound like your average garage project."

"Well, no, took a lot of practice and experimentation. As well as many totaled household objects."

Their comms crackled to life just then. "All teams, Rogers here. Site in LA was hit, they got away by portal. No success. We're heading back, stay on locations."

"So, no success, that means they couldn't capture anyone?" Spider-Man asked.

"Yep. That's the primary objective right now."

Caitlin brought her hand up to her ear, activating the comm that S.H.I.E.L.D. had lent to her. "Cap, can you tell us the composition of the party?"

"Couldn't see all of them, Cat. They blindsided us, snuck into the building somehow and we just managed to get a glimpse of them. I think I saw Pyro, and we know at least Blink was there. Possibly a couple others."

"Well, that's unhelpful," the webslinger snorted.

"Relax, Spidey," Caitlin remarked. "We'll get another hit soon enough. They haven't let up yet."

"Unless they already got the parts they need," Barton murmured.

"Actually, I don't think so," Spider-Man interjected. "According to the lists, each of the items that were possibilities were still missing items, otherwise we'd have a better idea of what they were building. The more they capture, the better idea we have of what it is. Ergo, they don't have everything yet, or we'd know for certain what they were building. Minus the higher-tech items, of course."

He glanced over to see both Barton and Caitlin staring at him incredulously.

"What? I pay attention," he mumbled defensively.

"So not just a webhead but an egghead too," Barton smirked.

"Be nice," Caitlin admonished as they returned to their survey.

"Sam here," came over their comms. "Houston got hit, escaped again. Natasha almost got Iceman. Her stunner thingies… oh, sorry, electroshock device, took him out but he was recovered before we could."

"Electroshock?" the webslinger queried.

"She calls them her Black Widow's Bite. They're on her wrists, pack a nasty punch," Barton explained.

"Huh. And she seemed like such a sweet gal."

Caitlin snorted. "You have no idea…"

"Right, so we can confirm the makeup of the team," Sam continued. "Iceman, like I mentioned before, and Pyro, Blink, plus a little blonde girl and a brown-haired boy, younger than the girl. I didn't recognize either. They didn't fight, though, kept to the rear and were first through the portal."

"Little blonde…" Caitlin breathed. "Sam! How did they arrive? Was it via portal?"

"Well that's the funny thing, we didn't see them arrive. One second they're not there, the next they are. No clue how."

"Okay, I think I know how they're moving around," Caitlin reported excitedly. "Jillian Green is a small blonde girl who was taken. She can teleport over long distances if she's seen it before. But she'd need to be seriously boosted to bring others along, and someone would have to have gotten her there first."

"Or maybe they found a way to, I dunno, 'see' the place without being there?" Barton mused.

"This is Fury. I contacted Professor Xavier earlier for the list of missing mutants and their abilities. There's a small boy with brown hair, name of Paul Reed. His ability is to boost the powers of other mutants, but he's untested as he's only six years old."

"Alright then, so Paul was the boy," Caitlin declared triumphantly. "Now we just need to figure out how they're seeing the place."

"We'll work on that, Cat," Fury answered.

Caitlin sighed in irritation. They were so close to figuring it out.

_/Did it really matter, though?/_

_How do you mean?_

_/You know enough of how they're teleporting to disrupt it./_

_True… so the specifics aren't that important right now._

_/Exactly. Just be on the lookout./_

_*Like right now. Pan back to the left again.*_

Caitlin did as Eric asked and turned her gaze towards the left until it rested on a building down the street. Barely visible in a doorway was a small figure.

"Clint," she whispered. "Was that person there before?"

"What… Oh, gotcha, no didn't see anything there before."

"I did," Spider-Man reported. "He was curled up at the bottom of the doorway, though."

"And now he's staring at the warehouse…" Caitlin murmured. "What if… what if all the controlled mutants are linked, so what one sees they can all access?"

"Sounds dizzying."

"Wait, I think I get where you're going…" Barton mused, peering down intently. "Maybe not everybody seeing everything, though, but if this Piper guy is controlling things… then maybe he can share someone's vision with this Jillian girl."

"And then they have their sight on the target," Caitlin added, slightly awed. "Damn."

"Sooo… what do we do about the kid?" the webslinger asked. "We take him?"

"No," Caitlin replied firmly. "We want the group."

"Cat, there's one kid right down there," Barton protested. "If he's one of them…"

"Not yet, Clint. Trust me."

"Cat, it's unlikely Becca's going to be in the group."

The brunette shot him a glare. "I know that. I said, trust me."

She turned back again, and in the blink of an eye, without any fanfare whatsoever, five figures appeared in the street below them.

"Showtime," Spider-Man said. "So, okay to go do my thing?"

"You go do your thing, Webhead," Barton replied, nocking an arrow to his bow. "I'll cover you two from here."

"Race you to the bottom?" the webslinger asked.

Caitlin snorted. "Sure." With that, she stepped off the roof and dropped.

"Hey, no fair, you got a head start!"

The red-and-blue-clad man swung into action, soaring over the street on a strand while pelting the mutants below with shots of webbing. Blink was taken by surprise and went down, immobilized, while Pyro and Iceman turned to return fire.

They were sufficiently distracted to miss Hawkeye's arrows coming in.

He hit the two teen boys with one arrow apiece. Each one sprouted a cloud of sticky pink foam that seemed to engulf their torsos.

Neither one seemed particularly worried. Bobby simply froze his, flexing his arms to shatter it, while Johnny blasted his off with a wave of heat.

"Poor showing, Stark," Barton muttered. "You're gonna have to do better with my toys next time."

By this point, Spider-Man had reached the bottom of his arc and was angling in for an attack, but Bobby threw up an ice shield that he slammed into instead. It shattered, but slowed him enough to be hammered by Johnny's fiery blast.

And then both of them had to throw up further shields to deflect the barrage of arrows coming in from above.

While all this was going on, Caitlin sprinted full-out into the battle zone. She ignored everyone else except for her target, zeroing in on her with an intense focus.

At the last moment, the small blonde girl noticed the hurtling form bearing down on her, but it was too late for her to evade.

Caitlin tackled Jillian, pulling her from Paul's grasp, and continued onwards before anyone could react. She held the little girl securely in one arm while she fumbled at the back of her waist with the other. Finally, she managed to unclip the collar from where it was secured and snap it one-handed onto Jillian's neck, causing the struggling girl to go limp. While she was finally calm, her eyes remained orbs of black.

She continued for another block before rounding the corner and putting her prisoner down, crouching over the girl to check for injuries. Behind her she could tell from the explosive _booms_ that Barton had broken out the concussive charges, meaning the battle was going against them. But she stayed put, eyes wary for any sign of a portal.

Finally, the sounds of battle died off, and she heard Barton's voice over the comm. "Cat, status!"

"About three blocks down the street," she reported. "They get away?"

"Yeah, but without whatever it was they came for. Were you successful?"

Caitlin grinned triumphantly, looking down at the comatose-looking girl. "Yep. Not only captured one, but it's the teleporter, Jillian."

"No shit?"

"I shit you not." She smirked softly. "That should limit their mobility some," she muttered.

"Nice job, Cat. Sorry I didn't trust you. Let's head back to HQ."

"Right." _And hopefully, figure out a way to reverse what was done to Rebecca._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another small chapter, with a little more action in it. The question might arise, okay so if all these kids are needed to put eyes on target how do they get there? Well, they were sent out beforehand to set up. Then, when ready, they jumped the team in. Most of the captured mutant children are expendable, Piper is only concerned with the powerful of useful ones. So he uses the rest as scouts, maybe have some of the ones who can drive go to the ones furthest out. Internationally, it might just be that he's been planning this for a very long time and had his spies in place well ahead of time… That's my reasoning, anyways.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	4. Chapter 4

Avengers Training Facility Medical Ward  
Upstate New York

Caitlin chewed on a fingernail nervously as she stood by the bedside, looking down at the tiny form of a young blond girl. Her eyes were closed, finally, after the other two Avengers in the room had intervened.

Wanda and Vision hovered on either side of the girl's head. They were clasping their hands together while each had their free hand resting on the blonde's temple.

"C'mon, Jilly-bean," the brunette girl murmured. "Come back to me, sweetie."

"Caitlin," the red-skinned android said gently, his eyes still closed. "This will take some time. You should go rest. Or perhaps a bath and change of clothes would be in order?"

She looked down at her attire, or at least the remains of it, and sighed. "Yeah, suppose I should," she said glumly.

"Rest assured, Miss Brown, we will do all we can for your small friend to set her right."

"Thanks, Vision, Wanda."

With one more glance at the bed, she turned and padded out of the ward in her bare and dirty feet. Barton was waiting on a chair, his head back against the wall and eyes closed, though they popped open as she approached.

"Hey kiddo," he said quietly. "Taking a break?"

"I'm… yeah. I can't do anything here. Vision said… he thought I should, um, go change…"

"Yeah, Nat wanted me to make sure you did that. Shower might do you some good."

They walked in silence down the long corridor, through several doors, until they reached the residential wing.

"Clint," she whispered, unwilling to break the silence of the early morning hour. "We're gonna get her back, right?"

"Hey, you know we are, Cat. No way we can't, not with all of us working together. Even Stark is pulling an all-nighter to figure this out."

Caitlin sighed. "I should be more irritated with that man than I am right now. But if he's helping… I can't refuse that. Dammit." She stopped in front of her room, staring at her toes. "I'm gonna owe him another thanks now."

"It won't kill you," Barton chuckled. He looked between the door and the small brunette girl who didn't seem in any hurry to proceed any further. Suddenly inspired, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "You want me to come in with you?"

She looked up at him, her pale green eyes bloodshot and haunted. "Please," she whispered brokenly. "I don't think… I don't want to go in without her there."

"Yeah, I get it. C'mon."

They entered the room, flipping on the light switch. Barton moved over to the closet. "We're likely going to see more action tonight. You want to wear your old jumpsuit?"

"Sure," she murmured. She stood next to the bed, looking down at the book that Rebecca had left there the last time they'd visited.

"Here," Barton said, taking her by the shoulders and steering her into the bathroom. "Jumpsuit's on the toilet, fresh towel on top. Wash up."

"I could just transform, it'd be faster," the petite brunette mumbled, still looking at the floor.

"Yeah, but a shower will feel better. Go on."

He left her there and closed the door behind him. Barton pulled the desk chair so that it was against the wall where he could see both the door and the window and sat back. He waited tensely until he heard the water start up, and then relaxed with a sigh, pulling his phone out.

After a second a husky voice answered him. "She in her room?"

"Yeah, me too. Didn't want to go alone. She's in the shower now."

"Okay. I just finished up, on my way to relieve you."

"Thanks, Nat."

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, napping lightly as he listened to the sounds of the shower running. It'd been going on for some time, which made him open his eyes again with a frown. _I am not going in there to check on her…_

Just as he was pondering his next action the door opened quietly. He tensed momentarily but then relaxed as Natasha eased herself into the room.

"She's been in there since you called?" she whispered.

He nodded and raised a questioning eyebrow.

She seemed to ponder it for a second, then shrugged and shook her head before tilting it towards the door.

Barton grinned. Natasha was the only person he could have a whole conversation with without uttering a single word.

She rolled her eyes, obviously interpreting his grin correctly, and gave him a mock glare.

He raised his hands in surrender. _I'm going, I'm going…_

Barton clasped Natasha's forearm on the way out, giving it a gentle squeeze in passing, before exiting and closing the door behind him.

The Black Widow sighed softly as she took Barton's seat. It was four in the morning. She'd gone longer without sleep, but the stress of travel and fighting was beginning to catch up with her.

Finally, she heard the shower cut off and the sound of the curtain being pulled back. A few minutes later Caitlin walked out of the bathroom, her hair damp, but she was now zipped up in her old jumpsuit. She was still barefoot, though.

"Oh! Hey, Tasha," she murmured. "Took me by surprise, I was expecting Clint to still be here."

Natasha nodded amicably. "Sent him to bed. How are you doing? Do you want to talk?"

Caitlin sighed as she sat on the bed at the head, her legs curled up under her. She glanced over at the empty space next to her. "I'm… coping for now. Still hopeful, it hasn't been long enough… God, is it only four? Did all this just happen in the past ten hours?"

"Yeah, time can get away from you while involved with a mission."

The brunette leaned her head back against the wall, her hand reaching out to rest on the book lying in the middle of the bed. "I'm worried about her," she confessed. "Is she still awake inside her head, just unable to control herself? If so, what will this… separation do to her? We've never been apart this long, not in the past half a year…"

Natasha laughed softly. "Has it only been that long? They way the two of you go on, it's like you've been sisters for years."

"Yeah, I suppose so," she smiled softly in reply.

A buzzing sound interrupted their conversation. "I need a new phone now," Caitlin grumbled. "Suppose I'll have to ask Stark for one."

"I can do that,' Natasha smiled as she pulled her own phone out. "Ah. Okay, we're needed in the sit room."

"Good," the small brunette declared as she got to her feet, slipping her boots on without tying them yet. "If I can keep active I can keep my head from getting all… you know."

"Yes, _mladshaya sestra_ ," the redheaded agent replied somberly. "Yes, I do."

* * *

Avengers Situation Room

Rogers, Barton, and Fury were waiting for them in the room. While Hawkeye was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Captain America looked haggard but still energized. Caitlin supposed he'd be able to go for some time more before needing sleep.

Fury, of course, looked as impenetrable as always. She seriously doubted the man ever slept a day in his life.

"We've got a situation in downtown New York," Fury reported without preamble. "Group of what look to be the enslaved mutants have surrounded what should be a vacant building." He turned to point at the main screen which was showing a dilapidated-looking three-story victorian house, boarded up and dark. Spread out in a semicircle were a dozen unmoving figures, one of which was actually standing at the door. Caitlin could tell by the figure and posture that it was Kitty, and she had her hands pressed up against the house.

"How did it get called in?" Natasha asked perceptively.

"Unsure. It simply showed up in our system. We're still working on the origin."

"Is this who we have to work with?" Rogers asked calmly, looking around at the other three.

"It is," Fury replied with a brief nod. "Others are elsewhere occupied. Spider-Man took off not fifteen minutes ago, said he had somewhere to be early. Must have a day-job he can't miss."

 _Or high-school classes,_ Caitlin snickered to herself.

"Right," Barton said, stretching. "Let's saddle up, then."

"I'm flying," Natasha said firmly as the small group turned to leave.

"What? I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Cat, back me up here."

Caitlin grinned. "No way, Clint, I gotta stick with Tasha on that. You look more like crap than I did."

"Thanks, kid. Your concern means a lot," he huffed sarcastically.

Laughing, the brunette skipped over to hop onto her tiptoes and plant a kiss on his stubbled cheek. "Thank for earlier," she whispered.

"Anytime, Cat," he smiled in return.

* * *

En Route to New York City

"Alright, we've only got a few minutes," Rogers said, standing in the middle of the quinjet. Barton and Caitlin looked up at him expectantly. "Caitlin, give us a rundown on who we're facing."

The brunette nodded and pulled the datapad into her lap, scrolling through the identities that Friday had gotten off of facial recognition. "Some unknowns, plus Shadowcat, Blink, Pyro, Iceman… Oh, crap."

"I do not like the sound of that," Barton sighed.

Caitlin turned the screen around to show a blue-haired girl. "This is Surge. We picked her up a few months ago, since then she's gotten better control over her powers. The Professor had a set of gauntlets made up for her that help her gain finer control. She's going to be very, very dangerous."

"What's her power?" Rogers asked concernedly.

"Electricity. She can channel it offensively into ranged blasts, and she can also speed herself up if fully charged."

"Do we know if she'll be charged up, though?" Barton asked.

Caitlin nodded despondently. "She absorbs it from everywhere, even static electricity. She's rarely _not_ fully charged."

"Damn." Barton peered at the brunette. "Another friend?"

"Yeah," Caitlin murmured. "Oh, and here's one I recognize, I think. He's got a lesser electrical power, sort of a static shock. He's the one who crispified my phone. Doesn't have a name for him, and I don't recognize him from the school."

Barton reached over to take the datapad from her hands. "Friday, match facial of subject to the list provided by Xavier."

"Working," Friday's voice came across the pad. "I have a match. Timothy Conway, Jr. Listed powers match what Miss Brown has stated."

"Thank you, dear," Barton smirked, handing the pad back to Caitlin.

"You are most welcome, Agent Barton."

"Clint, are you flirting with an AI?" the brunette girl asked humorously.

"Nah, we just get along."

* * *

Downtown New York City

The quinjet soared overhead, settling down into a nearby lot. The morning's dawn was just beginning to break, sending soft tendrils of light spreading throughout the empty neighborhood.

"Right, let's get this done before the neighbors wake up and start becoming collateral targets," Rogers ordered. He set off in front, jogging down the sidewalk with Natasha and Caitlin on his heels. Barton brought up the rear, arrow already nocked and searching for trouble from all angles.

Around the corner, they came to the site in question. None of the mutants had moved, but now the doorway where Kitty had her hands pressed seemed to be shimmering slightly. Upon their approach, all twelve of them swiveled their heads to regard them.

Before they approached further, six of the unidentified mutants walked forward, placed their hands on Kitty's shoulder, and then disappeared inside with her. The remaining five turned to face them.

"Okay, then," Rogers murmured. "Rear guard or sacrifices?"

"These are the most powerful of his 'army'," Caitlin stated. "Piper won't leave them behind."

"Then let's engage." With that, Captain America hurled his shield forward and charged into the fray. Blink immediately imposed a portal in between the shield's trajectory and herself, placing another off to the side but pointing back at Rogers. Unfazed, he caught the shield in his hand and rushed at Surge.

The blue-haired girl brought her hands up, triggering a bright bolt of electricity that Rogers took on his shield. She had to duck back to avoid an arrow fired by Barton, but then Pyro was rushing the archer, a fiery screen held in front of him. Caitlin tackled him from the side, and Barton fired over his head only to be blocked by Bobby's icy dome.

Natasha had jumped into the fray, sliding past the ice-flinging Bobby to jump up behind Timothy. The smaller boy was shooting off static bolts at Rogers, keeping him at bay, but she grabbed him with both hands, her electroshock Widow's Bite gloves dishing out a taste of his own weapon. The boy stiffened before collapsing.

The redhead turned to face Blink next, but the purple-haired girl had already flung up another pair of portals. The arrow that Barton had fired at her was now sent into Natasha's back. The concussive charge flung her forward and into yet another portal, only to drop out of the air twenty feet above their heads.

Caitlin reacted quickly, springing off of Rogers' shoulders to flip up into the air and catch the unconscious Agent. As she was descending, the brunette got a full blast of cold in her back, stunning her and sending the two of them tumbling to a halt.

Iceman by this point had turned himself into a glittering armored figure, the air coalescing and freezing to his skin. He waded into Captain America, each fist strike sending a small explosion of cold against his shield and torso. Rogers returned as well as he was given, but his fists started to feel the effect of the cold, numbing and slowing him down.

Barton was on his back, having taken a fire bolt to the chest via portal delivery courtesy of Blink. Pyro was advancing on the fallen archer, who was groaning and attempting to stagger to his feet. Then a dark blur flashed in as Pyro was tackled by a sleek panther. Caitlin grabbed hold of the pyrokinetic teen and wrapped her jaw around his throat to immobilize him.

Her strategy was short-lived as Surge sent a bolt of electricity into the panther, causing her to rear back and scream. Her form was lit up from within as the flickers of light coursed through her.

The attack was cut off as Rogers sent his shield flying out while Blink was distracted. It slammed into Surge, knocking her off of her feet but not rendering her unconscious. She shook her head and then zeroed in on the Captain.

"Uh-oh," Rogers murmured, reaching up to catch his shield.

It never made it to his hand, however, as a portal snatched it out of the air to drop it further down the street.

"Really?" he groaned. "Right, then." He charged in towards Surge, dodging the blue bolt sent his way, but when he went to strike she was already gone.

"Wha- Oh. Right. Speed." He changed course to launch himself at the newly-freed Pyro but was intercepted again by Bobby. The crystalline man had picked himself up from where Rogers had dropped him and was now ready for another round. He wasn't prepared for a growling panther to latch onto his back, dragging him down, but he responded with an icy burst that expanded out, knocking Caitlin off and landing Rogers on his back.

An arrow hit Pyro on the side as he wound up to deliver an attack of his own on the two prone individuals, and the concussive charge blew him backwards.

Natasha by this point was back in the fight, attempting to close in on Blink and take out her advantage. She wasn't able to get close enough, as the purple-haired girl kept zipping about the field of battle.

Suddenly, Blink paused in her attempts to keep Natasha at bay and her gaze switched over towards the house. She threw another portal up and slipped through it, just as a quickened Surge grabbed hold of the fallen Timothy and did the same. Portals appeared behind both Pyro and Iceman for their escape, and before a single heartbeat had passed, the four were left alone on the street.

"What…" Rogers panted, rolling onto his side. "What just happened?"

"Well, Cap," Barton drawled as he crouched next to him, groaning with the effort. "We got our asses handed to us, and they got away."

"Yeah. I was afraid of that."

A naked Caitlin trudged up and plopped herself down next to Rogers. "I know what you're gonna say," she said tiredly. "And honestly I'm just too exhausted to even care about clothes."

"Honestly?" Rogers groaned, laying his head back again. "I'm too tired to even notice."

"Cap," Natasha called out in warning.

With a heavy sigh, Rogers pulled himself to his feet again. He felt even more battered and worn than from the battle with the Chitauri at this point, but he was ready to give it another go.

As he pushed himself up, he stood to see an odd-looking individual standing in the street facing Natasha and the others. He held out the discarded shield as in offering, but Rogers had no idea where he'd come from.

The raven-haired, goateed man wore what seemed to be fairly normal-looking black trousers with a blue tunic of some sort over it. The most remarkable characteristic, though, was the ornate red cloak around his shoulders.

"Greetings," he intoned. "I thank you for your efforts in protecting my house." He let go of the shield and it floated towards Rogers all on its own.

"Um," Captain America replied intelligently as he took hold of it.

"My apologies, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the planet Earth from threats magical and mystical alike."

Caitlin peered around Roger's legs. "Huh. So you're a real-life wizard?"

"That I am, little one."

"Well, why the hell not," she sighed, crawling to her feet as well. "That about tops off one all-around crazy-ass night."

Strange quirked an eyebrow. "You seem to have misplaced your clothing, young lady."

"Yeah, tends to happen when I go back to being a panther." She shrugged her thin shoulders. "It's no biggie."

Barton hid his grin behind his hand, used to her propensity for nudity, but the sorcerer gave a small sigh. "I see. You are the one I was foretold to meet with tonight."

Caitlin blinked her eyes. "Foretold? Me?" she squeaked.

"Indeed. First, allow me." He waved a hand in her direction, and she was once again clothed in her dark blue jumpsuit.

"Now _that_ is a nifty trick," she grinned, looking herself over.

"Now then, Caitlin Brown. I have a message to give to you. First, however, I need to relate what was stolen from my abode just now."

"So the other mutants, they got inside?" Natasha asked quickly. "What was it they took?"

"They did indeed, I was busy fending them off and rendering them immobile while one of them, the one you know as Shadowcat, slipped by me. I almost caught her on the astral plane but she was too nimble for me. She and the rest of the children escaped through a portal of unnatural means."

"Yeah, that's Blink," Caitlin replied. "It's a mutant thing, not, um, magic. I don't think, anyways."

"As for what they took," Strange continued. "It was a mystical item, the Amulet of Tranquility, that sometimes serves me as a meditative focus."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Barton mused.

"Alone, no it would be inconsequential. But in combination with certain items… the results will be catastrophic."

"Wait, do you know what Piper is building?" Caitlin interjected excitedly.

"I do indeed, my young warrior. He is building an amplifier for his power, one that would allow him to enslave and control every mutant on the planet, no matter where they are."

The rest of them stared at Dr. Strange incredulously.

"Yeah, okay," Barton sighed. "So it's bad."

"That is an understatement, Archer. Now, I am afraid I cannot assist you in this endeavour as my services are required elsewhere. I can grant you what assistance I can now." He looked intently at the petite brunette. "Come forth, Caitlin Brown."

"Me? Oh, well, okay…" She shuffled forward somewhat nervously.

"Here is my message to you. Trust in the one with red skin and your former enemy. They are on the correct track."

Caitlin furrowed her brow. "Yeah, okay, so Vision and Wanda got the right idea. Was that it?"

"No, indeed. You will have the chance to rescue your sister soon enough. Do not pass up the opportunity once presented or her mind will surely be shattered beyond repair by the time you next have the opportunity."

Caitlin's mouth went dry. "Yeah. So no pressure," she said bitterly.

"Take heart, young warrior. I foresee you will most likely be victorious. Your love for your adopted sibling is pure and true and will guide you well. She is fighting to retain herself as well, and has managed to resist the most onerous of the commands given."

"She is? She has?"

Strange smiled gently. "She is an accomplished wielder of blades. On her pursuit of you last evening, did she ever throw one of her knives at you?"

Caitlin blinked in astonishment and then broke out into a grin. "No, no she did not."

"You see? She resists, though it is becoming more difficult. Now, from what has been revealed to me, you will have your chance this afternoon. One must be sacrificed before your sister may be saved. Do not worry, for all will be returned in due time if you succeed."

"Okay, now that's more like the cryptic mumbo-jumbo I was expecting," Barton grumbled.

Natasha smacked him on the arm without looking his way.

Strange took a step backwards. "Fare you well, my new friends. I expect we shall all meet again. But do not take this current threat lightly. Should he succeed, this Pied Piper will plunge the world into a chaos that it will not soon recover from."

What those last ominous words, the sorcerer disappeared.

Caitlin sighed tiredly. "And again, no pressure," she muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda stretched my portrayal of Dr. Strange here, but fortunately, it wasn't terribly off from the portrayal in his movie. The house could have been described better, but oh, well. In any case, here I mostly went off of the comic version. Honestly, I haven't read that many comics with him in it save for appearances he's made in other ones, like Civil War and the like. He's a cool guy, though.
> 
> Surge was introduced in my one-shot _Unleashed_ , it's over on my MCU: Unleashed Series.


	5. Chapter 5

Avengers Training Facility  
Upstate New York

The rest of the morning had been quiet enough to allow most of the Avengers to get some rest. Now that they knew what Piper was building, an amplifier for his power, they were better able to move the more unique and valuable items that he might need.

The burglaries seemed to have slowed down to a trickle now. The list was still incomplete, though Friday had managed to track down the other missing higher-tech items to confirm what had already been grabbed.

Right now it seemed to be a waiting game as they didn't know where this amplifier was being set up.

Just before lunchtime, Jillian woke up, her eyes back to their normal blue color but unsure as to what happened or how she had gotten there.

"Her memories are inaccessible," Vision was stating calmly to the assembled Avengers and other personnel. "I believe it is due to her age and inexperience, as she was unable to resist the enslavement at all. We did, however, ascertain the proper procedure for removing Piper's influence." He looked at Caitlin, who was beaming at him in appreciation. "When we retrieve your sister, Caitlin, we will be able to save her."

"Thanks, guys!" she said, fighting back tears of relief.

"Well, we're gonna be awhile till we can get to that point if we don't know how to locate them," Rogers interjected from his seat. "Anybody got ideas?"

"I think we're going to get your opportunity," Stark murmured as he rose from his chair.

"Stark, don't-" Fury started, but the billionaire had already flicked his phone towards the main screen, taking it over. The former Director sighed in resignation and sat back in his chair.

"Looks like Xavier is evacuating his school," Stark continued, unfazed. "I'm guessing they don't want to keep everybody in one identifiable place."

"And how is it you know where the school is?" Rhodes queried.

Stark just smirked at him in reply before turning back to the screen. "I'm seeing small buses lined up. They should start loading within the hour." He turned to the others expectantly. "Well? Am I the only one who sees the perfect opportunity to reverse an ambush here?"

"Your logic is skipping around, but I get where you're going with this," Barton said, rising from his chair. "We should have everybody there, cover all of the routes from a distance as we can."

"Wait, why are we expecting an ambush?" Wanda asked in confusion.

Sam leaned over her way. "They're more vulnerable in transit. Especially if they only have, what, one of the X-Men to protect them?"

"It's worse than that, actually," Caitlin murmured as she sat forward. "Rogue's ability is to borrow powers of other mutants through touch. If she hangs on long enough, she can incapacitate a mutant, or anyone for that matter, rendering them powerless for awhile. Thing is, most of her fighting abilities revolve around working with a team where she can borrow the other's powers."

Rogers drummed his fingers on the table, then nodded abruptly. "Here's what we need. Stark, Rhodes, Wilson, Vision. You're all up high, staying with the convoy as it sets out. I see four buses, so you each take one if they split up. You stay up there until I call you in. Romanov, Barton, and myself in a quinjet, we'll be hanging back and ready to rush in as soon and Piper makes an appearance."

Caitlin frowned at him. "What about me? Or Wanda?"

"You two," he grinned, "are on special assignment."

* * *

School Convoy

Rogue looked out at the tree-lined road ahead apprehensively. She felt very alone right now, even though she knew help was within reach. The hired driver next to her was sweating with apprehension, fully aware of what they might be getting themselves into.

"Remember, hon," she murmured quietly in her soft Southern accent. "Anythin' happens you just hightail it on out, nobody will give you a lick of attention, y'hear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied nervously.

The teenaged girl, almost twenty now, stood in the aisle between seats and glanced over her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry now," she reassured the children. "Y'all remember your trainin', and we'll get through anythin', right?"

She was met with a round of nods and she turned back with a sigh. _Ah don't know if ah can do this._

"Ma'am?" the driver called out suddenly.

Rogue bent down and peered through the windshield again. A solitary figure stood in the middle of the road some distance away.

"Showtime," she murmured. Turning back to the driver, she gave him a nod, and he increased speed while she braced herself. As they got closer she could see who it was.

"Oh, Bobby," she whispered. "Please, Bobby, no…"

The Iceman flung his hands up, creating a wall of ice. The bus barrelled on, crashing through the first barrier, but then slammed on the brakes as the rest of the road became coated in a slick, wintery surface.

The bus fishtailed for a dozen feet and then came to rest on the shoulder. Rogue had been flung backwards, but a helping hand on her arm got her moving. She smiled her thanks and popped the side door open. "Run," she ordered the driver, and then flung herself out to face her boyfriend.

Bobby immediately began to fling ice bolts at her, which she nimbly dodged and rolled out of the way of, coming ever closer even as be backed up. Then another figure stepped from the treeline, blue-haired and crackling with energy. The bolt of lightning hit Rogue square in the chest, sending her sprawling. Other figures began to emerge, led by the Pied Piper himself.

"Ah, and you would be the lovely Rogue," he said grandly. "I know you're immobilized right now, so I'll make this quick…"

Piper trailed off as Rogue rolled onto her hands and knees, pushing herself up.

"Why isn't she immobilized?" he asked querulously.

"Did that hit wear off already?" a light and mocking voice called out from inside the bus.

"'Fraid so, hon," Rogue smiled as she staggered to her feet once more, leaning up against the hood of the bus. "Could use another one, if'n you don't mind."

Caitlin hopped down the steps and sidled up to her friend, laying a hand on her bare arm once more. "Try to make this one last, huh?"

"Well, ah will try, but Surge packs one hell of a punch."

The brunette girl smirked at Piper, who was staring at them incredulously. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yes, let's."

Both Rogue and Caitlin launched themselves forward at Piper, who shrieked and stumbled backwards. Bobby immediately threw up an ice barrier, which Rogue only paused a second to smash through before continuing on. Caitlin was waylaid by another blast of electricity from Surge, as well as fire blasts from Pyro, and she had to veer off course slightly.

The teenaged mutant flew in, her face in a snarl and the white forelock streaming to the side, only to be met a foot from Piper by a blurred figure. She smashed into a tree and slumped down, stunned by the impact.

Rogue looked up into a face framed by wild, disarrayed red hair, and where there should have been pale green eyes, black orbs stared at her instead.

"Oh, hell," she muttered, rolling to the side and barely avoiding Rebecca's kick. "Cat! Lil' help!"

She took a punch on her arm but couldn't block the kick fast enough. It landed on her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and staggering her back once again. Rebecca spun and landed a kick that, had Rogue not borrowed some of Caitlin's power, would have surely snapped her neck.

"No! Don't kill her, you little idiot! I need her alive!" Piper shouted from behind a wall of protective mutant children.

"Well… that's… reassuring…" Rogue panted painfully. She gasped in pain as Rebecca grabbed her by the hair to haul her upright.

And then another form sailed in to tackle the redheaded girl. Rogue fell back again, wobbling from the effort to stay on her feet as she watched Caitlin and her sister tumble down the forested hill, locked in a fierce embrace.

Overhead she could hear the whine of repulsors. Explosions sounded from around the forest and up by the road. Piper bit back a curse.

"Right, well, so much for doubling my army," he muttered angrily. He turned his dark beady eyes to Rogue. "I'll just have to settle for you."

The mutant girl finally sank to her knees, unable to fight anymore as Caitlin's borrowed power left her completely.

Meanwhile, Caitlin and Rebecca had come to a stop at the bottom of the hill and were engaged once more in furious combat, spinning and kicking as best they could in the confines of the woods.

The brunette staggered back against a tree but quickly ducked the punch that Rebecca threw, taking out a chunk of the bark. "Wanda, any time now!" she yelled into her comm.

"Caitlin!" the woman replied. "Rogue is in trouble!"

She glanced back up the hill to see her friend, kneeling and with her head bowed, as Piper approached her.

The words from Dr. Strange echoed through her head and she suddenly realized the sacrifice she needed to make.

_Dammit. Dammit! Fucking dammitall to hell and gone!_

_/Cat, you can't just leave her!/_

_I have to! This is my only chance to save Becca!_

"Wanda, stick to the plan," she ordered into the comm, whirling away from a combo strike by her sister.

"But, Caitlin…"

"Now, Wanda! I need you here _now_!"

She battled for a few more seconds, managing to land a kick of her own but receiving a far more serious thrashing as she wasn't willing to do serious harm.

Finally, a welcome report came over the comm. "I am ready."

Without hesitation, Caitlin lunged forward and hugged her sister tightly.

Rebecca struggled and squirmed, trying to head-butt the brunette, but she merely tucked her head in and held on with all of her strength and all of her love.

"I won't let you go, Becca," she whispered desperately.

And then Wanda landed next to them, quickly placing her hands on the top of Rebecca's red hair. The girl stilled almost immediately, and then finally went limp in Caitlin's arms.

The brunette girl sagged to the ground, still clinging to her sister, her face wet with tears. "Oh, thank you," she murmured. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…"

She wiped her cheeks on Rebecca's shirt, then looked up the hill.

Rogue was gone, along with Piper and all of the other mutants.


	6. Chapter 6

Avengers Training Facility Medical Ward  
Upstate New York

Steve Rogers entered the medical wing with a tray full of coffees, still in his red-white-and-blue uniform. He headed down the right-hand hallway to see Sam, Natasha, and Clint pretty much where he'd left them, sitting in chairs and facing the windows overlooking one of the rooms.

He quietly handed his cups out and then took a seat next to Natasha, holding a coffee cup of his own. "No change?"

"Nothing yet," she replied softly in her husky voice.

He looked into the room to see that, indeed, there had been no change at all in the scenery. Wanda and Vision still stood around the head of the bed where Rebecca lay semi-reclined, her long red hair brushed and fanned out on the pillow behind her.

At the foot of the bed was Caitlin, her pale green eyes focused intently on her sister, while her arms remained wrapped around her middle.

"Has Cat budged at all?" Rogers murmured.

"Not a muscle," Barton confirmed. "It's been three hours."

"Yeah," Rogers sighed. "That girl can be scarily intense sometimes."

"I've seen it in both of the girls," Natasha mused thoughtfully. "Sometimes they get this focus when they zero in on an objective. Rebecca, I've only noticed it when we spar. But Caitlin can get that way about people, too."

"Yeah, I've seen Rebecca get that way," Sam murmured.

Barton glanced over with a grin. "Oh, have you now?"

Sam cleared his throat and looked away without answering.

Just then the motionless redheaded girl began to stir slightly, quickly escalating into an erratic thrashing. Caitlin was at her side in the blink of an eye, holding her down and talking to her urgently.

The other four ran into the room as well. Sam was the first one through the door and rushed to Rebecca's other side to also hold her down.

"What happened?" Rogers asked quickly.

"Piper is resisting us," Wanda gritted out, sweat beading on her forehead.

"Once he has hold, he is quite formidable," Vision added, seemingly unperturbed.

"C'mon, Becca, fight him, you fight him off, dammit," Caitlin was urging. "Come back to us…"

"Why didn't this happen with the little girl, Jillian?" Natasha asked.

"I suppose she was not as important to keep out of our hands," Vision mused.

Eventually, the small redheaded girl stilled. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she went limp once more.

"Vision?" her brunette sister prompted tensely as she and Sam stepped back again.

"It is well, Caitlin, we have broken through the barriers…" Vision paused. "She is beginning to emerge."

No sooner had the words left her lips than Rebecca sat upright, sucking in a lungful of air. "Caitlin!" she gasped.

"Here! I'm here," the brunette said, placing her hands on her sister's shoulders and turning her towards her. "It's okay, you're okay now…"

Rebecca blinked at her, her pale green eyes wide and unseeing before they focused on Caitlin's face. Once they did, she broke down into tears.

"Oh, Caitlin, I was… I was so alone, and… and…"

"Shush, it's alright," the brunette murmured, pulling her into a tight hug as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her sister clung to her with trembling desperation, sobbing wordlessly. "I'm here for you, I'm here now."

Sam ran his hand along her silky red hair with a sad smile before stepping back. "We should leave them be," he whispered. His advice was met with nods, and Wanda, Vision, and Barton joined him outside on the benches.

Rogers paused at the doorway, looking back at Natasha. "You coming?"

She shook her head and moved over to sit on the other side of the two girls. "They're my sisters," Natasha said with an uncharacteristically soft smile as she leaned in to wrap her arms comfortingly around them as well.

Rogers nodded knowingly and closed the door behind him, leaving only the sounds of Rebecca's weeping in the room, as her sisters enveloped her in their comfort.

Eventually, she calmed down and ended the embrace, wiping her face on the hem of her hospital gown. "I apologize," she whispered brokenly. "I just…"

"Do not apologize, _mladshaya sestra_ ," Natasha admonished softly. "You have nothing to apologize for. We understand."

Rebecca looked at the redheaded woman, her pale green eyes wide with wonder, as Caitlin glanced between the two of them, grinning widely.

"You called me 'little sister'," she breathed.

"I did. And you are, the both of you."

Caitlin grabbed Rebecca around the neck in a one-armed hug. "See? Family."

The small redheaded girl nodded slowly, a grin growing on her own face as well. "Family." She turned to Caitlin once she'd let go, and reached out to touch her face. "You… you came for me. I remember fighting you, but you held on and wouldn't let go…"

"Of course I did, silly," the brunette laughed, giddy with relief at the return of her sister. "You'd do the same for me, right?"

"Yes, I would," Rebecca replied earnestly. She moved her hand to then touch Natasha's face, still unbelieving that she'd been included in the same vein as Caitlin. "And you were all there…"

"We all came for you, Becca," Natasha replied warmly. "Once an Avenger, always an Avenger."

"Made some new friends along the way, too," Caitlin chuckled.

"I recall…" Rebecca furrowed her brow. "A strange man, clad in red and blue…"

"Yep, Spider-Man. He wasn't able to help with your recapture, but he helped me escape."

"Caitlin, I…" Rebecca looked at the girl who could easily pass as her twin and sighed remorsefully. "I am so sorry for what occurred…"

"Nah, don't be," she replied cheekily. "I kicked your butt, it's all good."

Rebecca snorted, her humor restored. "You most certainly did not," she huffed. "I recall that much, at least."

"Nope, your memory's faulty. There was definitely some butt-kicking being done by me."

"You are delusional."

"Me? You're the one who just came out of, one, mental bondage, and two, a coma. Don't be throwing words like 'delusional' in _my_ face, missy."

Rebecca regarded her sister levelly, though with humor dancing in her eyes. "Missy? Really?"

They stared at each other in mock seriousness before dissolving into giggles and hugging once more.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Caitlin whispered.

"I shall endeavor not to," Rebecca whispered back, smiling softly.

Natasha stood up and straightened her jumpsuit. "Well, if we're better now, Fury and the others are sure to be wanting a debrief on anything you can tell us, Becca."

"Yes, certainly," the petite redhead agreed, releasing her sister. "May I first… Is Sam here?"

"Course he was, and still is," the brunette snarked, nodding towards the windows between the room and the waiting area in the hallway. "He hasn't left this area since you got here."

"He has not?" she replied quietly, a soft smile on her face as she regarded the lean, dark-skinned man. Seeing her look at him, Sam quickly entered the room.

"Hey, girl, how are you feeling?"

Rebecca pulled her legs around and stood up to walk over to where he was standing. She stopped inches from him, her bare toes almost touching his boots, and looked up at him solemnly. Her hand drifted upwards and ran down his chest hesitantly.

"I am well," she replied, her eyes sparkling with emotion. "I am sorry if my… if what happened to me caused you distress."

"You're sorry?" he asked incredulously. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "You can be the most frustratingly sweet girl sometimes…" he murmured. "But don't ever be sorry for circumstances outside your control, alright?"

"Very well," she mumbled, her words muffled into his chest. "May we stay like this for a little while longer before we have to debrief?"

"Becca darlin', we can stay like this as long as you like," he replied, smiling into her hair and inhaling her fragrance.

Caitlin crossed her arms and leaned up against Natasha. "They are so cute together," she whispered.

"It's almost like watching a pair of puppies in love," Natasha whispered back humorously.

"I know, right?"

"You are both dorks," Rebecca's voice drifted out from somewhere around the vicinity of Sam's chest.

"True, true," Caitlin giggled.

A half hour later saw Rebecca dressed in her casual style of clothing, consisting of jean shorts and a light green crop top, though foregoing sandals as she felt the need for the extra comfort. Her long red hair was back in a braid again, lying against the back of her neck. She sat at the large conference table with Caitlin on her right and Sam on her left, clinging to both of their hands under the table's surface.

The rest of the Avengers had assembled as well, Rhodes, Wanda, and Vision, along with Fury and Hill. There was muted conversation around the table, and Natasha leaned in to offer Rebecca a reassuring smile.

"How are you holding up, Becca?"

"I am well now, thank you," she replied sincerely. "I am prepared to answer what questions arise." She glanced over past Sam and offered both Vision and Wanda a grateful smile. "I thank you both very much for your efforts to restore me."

Wanda smiled back while Vision nodded solemnly. "You're welcome, Becca," the Sokovian woman replied. "It was our pleasure."

Just then Stark came into the room, followed eagerly by Spider-Man. "I'm just sayin', you got the urge to tinker, let me know," the billionaire murmured. "I've got a playland all set up and nobody else to share my toys with."

"That would be so cool, I mean, um, yeah, great, thanks!" the webslinger stammered out, obviously somewhat awed to be standing next to the man. He paused upon noticing Rebecca sitting at the table. "Hey, the sister's here! And without the freaky eyes! Does that mean we're all on the same team now?"

"We are, yes," Rebecca nodded calmly.

"Fantastic! Because you pack one hell of a swing for someone smaller than me. And that's saying something."

Caitlin gave her sister's hand a squeeze and rose from her seat to stand in front of Stark, regarding him levelly. "I need to talk to you before we start."

Stark looked at her askance. "Um, sure thing, Kitten, what's up?"

"I…" The brunette sighed and looked down at her sandaled feet. "I'm sorry for, um, my earlier behavior. You did help me, and I acted like an ass, which I know is usually your thing…"

"This is the strangest apology I've ever received," Stark mused.

"Oh, hush. So, yeah, I'm sorry, okay? And… I appreciate what you've done for me… for us, me and Becca."

His eyes twinkling, he rested his hand on her shoulder in a friendly way as the diminutive brunette girl looked back up at him.

"I understand Kitten, you were going through a lot. Trust me, I didn't take any of it personally." He shot her a grin. "I'll try to be less of a dick in the future, though, okay?"

Caitlin laughed. "Well, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself or anything."

"Alright, kids, if we're done with the socializing, let's get on with this," Fury ordered. He waited for Stark and Caitlin to find their seats before continuing. "I have some direct question for you, Rebecca, before you give us an account of as much as you can remember. Can you confirm for us what it is Piper is building? Is it an amplifier?"

"That is correct," she affirmed. "It is an amplifier for his ability as well as a circumvention for his shortcoming."

"Shortcoming?" Hill interjected.

"His ability to… enslave mutants is based on a line of sight. He must see the individual and they must be looking at him to initially control them, but once it has been established he need not be present."

"Huh," Caitlin mused. "So the hand gestures were unnecessary?"

"That is correct. They were showmanship to draw the eye."

"And this amplifier, it means he no longer needs to see them to do his thing?" Fury questioned.

Rebecca nodded. "Yes, that is correct."

"Right. One more question, then, if you please. Do you know where it is he's building it?"

"I am not certain, but I do know two facts regarding the location. I was never there." Rebecca looked down at the table briefly, furrowing her brow. "One, it is within the borders of the United States. And two, it is somewhere in the middle of the country, near the northern border."

"All right, then, we can get Friday working on a search algorithm," Stark mused, tapping on his phone. "Run through satellite pics. Alright if I hijack your feeds, Nick?"

"That's fine, Stark," Fury replied. "At least you asked first this time," he added in a mutter. Then, in his normal sonorous voice, he continued. "Miss Brown, anything else you can add regarding this amplifier?"

"He is unsure as to the capabilities, but potentially it will spread his influence globally," she reported quietly. "He would maintain this control even after detaching himself from the machine. He also hopes he might attain some control over metahumans as well, though he believes this to be unlikely."

"But why?" Rhodes interjected. "Why is he doing all this?"

"To take over the world," Rebecca replied calmly. "He means to eliminate all opposition, use his enslaved mutant army to eliminate the superheroes and metahumans. Once that is done he will be the global power."

"He's nuts," Sam muttered.

Rebecca turned to her boyfriend and smiled sadly. "Undoubtedly so, yes. He is very insane."

"Right. So then, Rebecca, can you start at the beginning?" Fury sat back down but folded his hands in front of him, regarding the small redheaded girl intently.

"Yes, I will do so, sir," she said politely. Rebecca closed her eyes briefly, visibly centering herself, before opening them and continuing. She kept her gaze on the center of the table, not meeting anyone else's eyes while she talked.

"I was standing in the warehouse with Caitlin. Then I felt the darkness envelop me once the Pied Piper looked at me and used his power. He took complete control of me, though I could still observe what was occurring, dimly. I had to struggle to do so, but I continued to fight his influence." She paused and blinked. "I fought as hard as I could," she added in a whisper.

Both Caitlin and Sam squeezed the hand that they were holding on to, giving her the courage to continue.

"He sent me to kill Caitlin. I was able to restrain myself somewhat when out of his direct sight, but once I returned to him I was again completely controlled. He knew I fought him, and was confused as to how I could do so but resolved to keep me close and not send me out on his raids. He considered me valuable." She smiled bitterly at that. "He then began to see me as a pet."

Sam growled quietly, not liking where this was going.

"He believed I would be an effective bodyguard, but also found me to be… decorative. While he worked out of a different warehouse in the city, he had me disrobe and stand by attentively."

"Sonofa…" Sam snarled, clearly trying to keep his temper reigned in.

Rebecca looked at him curiously. "He did not touch me, merely looked."

"That's not the point, Becca, you don't just… He…"

Caitlin looked around her sister towards the seething man. "Sam, you're forgetting we don't have a problem with nudity."

"That is correct," Rebecca said softly. "It was somewhat demeaning, but not because of the lack of clothing. Although, I was grateful that I gained his attention for this rather than one of the others."

"Yeah, Kitty or Blink or any of the others would have flipped once we rescue them," Caitlin mused.

"It would likely be traumatic for them, yes." Rebecca sighed. "I hope that he has not changed his… affections since I left."

"And he never touched you?" Sam asked probingly. "Never laid a finger on you?"

"Not in a sexual way, no. He thought of me as property and ornamentation. As I said, a pet. Not as something to be desired in that fashion."

"What changed, Rebecca?" Fury asked, attempting to get the conversation back on track. "How did you end up at that ambush site?"

"I was serving as his bodyguard still," she replied solemnly. "He was there in person to capture the convoy. He knew it would happen eventually, and had one mutant child staking the property out to observe when the evacuation would begin."

"And then when Rogue and I attacked, he called you in to defend himself," Caitlin mused.

Rebecca smiled at her sister. "That is correct. If it is any consolation, you frighten him greatly."

"It is, actually," she snickered. "Makes me feel all warm inside that I can scare a lunatic. Um, why exactly is it I scare him?"

"He knows of your capabilities, and of your focus, from my memories," the redheaded girl replied softly.

"Well, good," Caitlin retorted. "He should be scared. 'Cause I'm gonna eviscerate him when I see him next."

"Not if I get to him first," Sam grumbled irritably.

"Anything else you can think of, Rebecca?" Fury asked. "Anything at all that can help us?"

She pondered this for a moment before her face lit up with inspiration. "I believe I know of one component he is missing. It was vexing him."

"There you go with the 'vexing' again," Caitlin snickered quietly.

"Hush," Rebecca admonished, bumping her affectionately with her shoulder. "The component was originally at a Stark Enterprises laboratory in Los Angeles, but it was moved before he could retrieve it. He was still searching for it, or a substitute, without luck so far."

"Right," Stark murmured as he looked through his phone. Without further preamble, he flicked his phone at the main screen to send a three-dimensional rotating image up there. Fury just sighed resignedly.

"Does that look like it, Red?"

"It does, yes…" she murmured. "I do not know the name of it, though."

"No need, it's an emitter, a hypersonic one to be precise, and very specialized. I moved it by plane into my tower, it arrived just a half hour ago. So, see, crisis solved." He grinned cheekily. "You're welcome. Now we just need to find the bastard and kick his teeth in."

"Mr. Stark?" Rebecca asked hesitantly.

"Yep?"

"Why did you call me… Red?"

"It's your new nickname, I get to call your sister Kitten, so you're Red. Hopefully, you'll give me less grief about it."

Rebecca blinked her eyes uncertainly. "I… do not disapprove."

"Works for me!" he replied cheerfully. "Okay, Friday's got the algorithm running, so let's get a plan of attack together. Other than just, y'know, attack."

"Tony, we'll make a tactician out of you yet," Rogers smirked as he rose to his feet. "First though I'd like to hear from Wanda and Vision. Is what you did for Becca permanent?"

"It is not," Vision replied solemnly.

"Then she's not going." Caitlin and Sam looked at each other in surprise as they'd said the words simultaneously.

Rebecca sighed and released her grip on their hands, sitting back with her arms crossed. "Samuel Wilson and Caitlin Brown. I do love you both, but do not presume to tell me what to do."

"Do not worry, any of you," Vision reassured them. "I can continue to shield her from Piper's influence if I keep a mind link open with her."

"Um," Rebecca blinked her eyes uncertainly as she gazed at the red-skinned android. "How, exactly, does that work?"

"I establish the link through physical contact. Since I was linked with you previously to erase Piper's influence, it will be easier to both establish and maintain, even if we are not physically connected. So long as I remain fairly close, you shall be shielded."

"Well, that sounds like a plan, then!" Caitlin said excitedly.

Rebecca leveled her sister an irritated look, and the brunette girl quickly backpedaled. "Er, I mean, yeah I like the sound of that, and what do you think of it, Becca?" She smiled at the redhead weakly.

She next turned to regard Sam, who raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I learned my lesson, not sayin' a thing here."

With a noncommittal grunt, Rebecca turned back to Vision. "This is an acceptable plan. Thank you, Vision."

"Which is what I was sayin' anyways…" Caitlin grumbled under breath. Rebecca quirked her eyebrow, but this time her sister answered it with a cheeky grin.

"Okay then, we're all on board for this. Right?" Rogers turned to first Stark and then Spider-Man. "I know the two of you aren't involved with us, at least not you, Spider-Man, but we'd really appreciate all the help we can get on this one."

"Hey, I was in on this from the start," the webslinger assured him. "Not backing out now. They might recall my hero card if I do."

"You know I'm in, Cap," Stark added with unusual solemness.

"Okay then. Once we get a target, we'll all go in. Flyers with enough fuel… meaning Iron Man and War Machine… will escort the rest of us on a quinjet. At the site, those who can will drop from high up, then Barton will bring the jet in and discharge the rest. We go in hard and fast, keeping in mind that all of our opposition consists of people fighting against their own will."

"You cannot rely on any of them being able to resist," Rebecca added quietly. "That close to Piper, his control will be absolute."

"Hey, Red," Stark interjected. "Does this Piper fella just let his soldiers do their own thing, or does he control them directly?"

"Both, actually. But with all of us attacking, he will most likely leave them to attack individually and only take control if he is threatened."

"So we need to keep the pressure on him, that will make the majority of their response disorganized," Rogers mused. "Their biggest advantage so far has been Blink. If we can remove her portals from their use, it's a standard slugfest, and we can handle a straight-up fight."

Rebecca and Caitlin shared a look and a nod. "We'll take Blink," Caitlin assured him.

"Alright, good. Then for Piper himself, flyers will try to break through as best as possible. The rest of us keep the soldiers occupied as best we can, keep the focus on us." Captain America sighed resignedly. "That's the best I can come up with right now without knowing the field of battle."

"Works for me," Spider-Man said cheerfully.

Natasha leaned in on her forearms. "I think we can safely assume they'll all be there. Every mutant he's managed to control."

"And who knows how many more kids he's grabbed," Barton muttered.

"We can only take it as it comes," Rogers stated. "Let's go gear up, meet in the hanger in fifteen. Even if we don't have a location by then, we can get into the air and start moving in that direction."

Fury stood back up again. "Any questions? No? All right then. Let's do this."

Caitlin remained seated for a little while. Rebecca and Sam stood together in a corner talking softly, as were Natasha and Maria in the other corner.

She noted that Fury had eased up behind her.

"Something on your mind, sir?" she asked archly without turning around.

With a heavy sigh, Fury eased himself into the chair that Natasha had just vacated. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Caitlin glanced between the two couples, and then to the others as they filed out. "This feels different," she murmured. "Like… I dunno. I'm not sure how we can all make it through this. Not if we're trying so hard not to kill who we're fighting, but they're gonna try their damnedest to do so to us."

Fury leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. "Going into battle… is full of uncertainties. Lack of control. It's been said, no plan survives contact with the enemy."

Caitlin smirked. "So, what, it all comes down to improvisation?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well, that I can do," she said softly. "Improvisation is my middle name." She tilted her head to the side. "Actually, I don't have a middle name. I could actually make that my middle name."

"I worry about you sometimes, sister," Rebecca sighed from behind her.

Caitlin craned her neck to regard her sister with a wide grin. "Only sometimes?"

"True. Most of the time."

"Well, good. If you weren't then I'm doing something wrong."

Rebecca shook her head with a smile as Caitlin rose to her feet to walk out with her. "You are exasperating."

"Aw, you love me anyway."

"Of course I do. It does not make you any less exasperating."

"Hey, remind me when we get back, I wanna try something with Vision's help…"

The rest of their conversation was lost as they exited the room. Fury looked up to see that Natasha and Maria had already left as well.

He sighed again, thinking back to numerous missions he'd sent good people off to that never returned from them.

"Good luck," he murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not much action here, nor the next one really which will involve lots of setting up and the like, but then we should have the giant fight scene in chapter eight.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	7. Chapter 7

Airspace Above Midwestern US

Caitlin glanced around at the others in the quinjet with her. Rebecca was sitting next to her, adjusting one of the bracers of throwing knives she had around her upper arms. Her sister wore the same dark blue jumpsuit and combat boots that she herself did but had knives protruding from every possible point of attachment possible, whereas Caitlin simply had a gunbelt on containing her favorite Glock pistol. She still wasn't as proficient with it as she'd been when she could access Kyle's memories, but she wanted a backup just in case.

On the other side of Rebecca sat Sam. The Falcon was geared up in his new black jumpsuit with dark red highlights. His goggles were pushed up on his forehead and he was holding one of Rebecca's hands in his lap. The brunette smiled as she saw that he was absentmindedly tracing random patterns on the back of her small hand.

Vision and Wanda sat close together. The red-skinned android was crucial to Rebecca's safety, which made her nervous to place that much trust in another person. There wasn't much choice at this point, however, as Rebecca had made abundantly clear. Wanda had her combat uniform on, light and agile with a protective red leather coat over black pants and tunic. She was huddled next to Vision, sharing what must have been a mental conversation by the looks of their changing expressions.

Caitlin idly wondered if they might be developing feelings for each other. She knew that Vision was working diligently to immerse himself into human society, but was he capable of establishing emotions?

_/Well, you certainly did./_

_True enough. If I could, hell, if Rebecca could, I don't see why Vision couldn't. Wonder if she realizes what's happening?_

_*You kiddin' me? Have you noticed how Wanda looks at him?*_

_Um, no Eric, haven't paid all that much attention lately._

_*Well, trust me, it's there.*_

Caitlin snickered softly to herself. _My personal relationship advisor._

_*Yeah, yeah…*_

She resumed her perusal of the cabin, noting that the red and blue clad newcomer seemed rather anxious, tapping his hands on his knees.

"Are you okay there, Spidey?" she called out.

"Oh, yeah, sure, no prob. Looking forward to duking it out with a mutant army. Should be fun!"

Caitlin laughed softly. "Hey, we got your back."

"That is correct," Rebecca added. "We will all have your back."

"Team effort, baby," Sam grinned. "Shoot, with both Iron Man and War Machine as the big guns, we'll be golden."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Stark's voice came across the aircraft's comm. "'Cause Friday just got a hit for us. Sending coordinates now."

"Roger that," Barton replied from the pilot's seat. He was dressed in his customary cold-weather gear, a long black trenchcoat over his black jumpsuit. Natasha, sitting next to him in her own black jumpsuit, shook her head.

"North Dakota?" she smirked. "What in the hell is in North Dakota?"

"Um, snow," Stark reported. "Most of the year. Other than that… nice open space."

"Ahh, North Dakota girls," Barton sighed reminiscently. "The kind you can bring home to mom and outdrink your dad."

Caitlin snorted in laughter.

"I was stationed in North Dakota for a year," Rhodes joined in from his position opposite Stark, flying on the other side of the quinjet. "That's remarkably accurate."

"Okay, joking aside," Rogers interjected as he stood up. "Least we have a target now. ETA?"

"Um… fifteen minutes, give or take," Barton reported.

"Right. Get any last minute prep work out of the way that you need. Remember the drop order." He slung his shield across his back. "Stick to the plan as best we can. And be careful, Avengers."

"I've got a decent site. It's a good-sized clearing in the forest." The minutes counted down tensely until Barton spoke up again. "Drop one coming up."

Vision and Wanda both got up and stood by the door. Sam leaned over to give Rebecca a quick kiss before he too joined them.

"Ten seconds," Barton called out.

Rogers hit the rear hatch controls and the door lowered.

"Drop one!"

Vision and Wanda stepped out, the latter with a red nimbus of light surrounding her. Sam went on their heels, dropping out before extending his wings and firing up his engines.

"Rhodey and I have them," Stark reported. "We're moving to the drop zone."

"Copy that," Barton replied tersely. The quinjet banked as it turned and descended to make another, lower, pass. "Ready drop two, ten seconds."

The others in the rear stood to join Rogers. Caitlin stood with Rebecca, gripping her hand. "You ready for this, Becca?"

"I am," she replied calmly.

The quinjet was coming in at treetop level towards the drop site before it banked and slowed suddenly. "Drop two!" Barton called out.

Caitlin, Rebecca, Captain America, and Spider-Man all jumped out of the jet. Barton banked once more to swing around and land on the other side of the large clearing while the fliers from the first drop fanned out to cover their landing.

Spider-Man latched onto a towering tree with his web before swinging to the ground, while Rogers and Caitlin simply dropped into a crouch.

Rebecca, however, wasn't so lucky. Her foot went down on a rock and she twisted to the side, landing on yet another rock. She let out a soft scream as her tibia snapped.

"Shit!" Caitlin was at her side in an instant. "Becca, hold still!"

The redheaded girl was struggling to sit up and clutched her leg. "One minute, please," she gritted out painfully. With both of her hands, she straightened out her leg to realign the break. "Ow," she gasped.

"Wait, are you…? Are you healing that right now?" Caitlin whispered harshly.

"Yes, I am… there." Rebecca let out a sigh of relief and stood up, gingerly testing her leg. "I shall be fully functional again in a short while."

Laughing quietly, Caitlin gave her sister a quick hug. "You are so badass," she giggled.

"Yes," Rebecca smirked. "Yes, I am."

By that point, the jet was down and both Hawkeye and Black Widow had joined the group. With rapid hand signals and murmured orders over the comm, Rogers had them moving out. Iron Man and War Machine were hanging back on the flanks as they made more noise with their passage, while Caitlin and Rebecca stuck to the rear to watch for ambushes.

Eventually, the forest gave way to another clearing where a loud hum was emanating from. In the middle stood a large piece of machinery, roughly cone-shaped and with what looked to be a throne built into the base of it. The device easily stood twenty feet high. A figure was seated in the shadow of the machine while surrounding the device were ranks of standing figures.

"They've grown in size," Barton murmured.

"Yeah, looks like he's been busy," Spider-Man mentioned. "Must have been on a recruitment campaign. You know, color brochures, free snacks, flashy spam emails, that sorta thing."

"Stark, you get a reading on that thing?" Rogers asked.

"Yeah, Cap. It's self-powered and warming up."

"Warming up?" Natasha asked sharply. "I thought he was still missing a component?"

"Come, my friends!" a cheerful voice boomed out across the clearing. "No need to linger on the outskirts! It's quite rude not to introduce yourselves on another's sovereign territory!"

Rogers strode out from the treeline. "Last I checked, we're still in the United States of America," he replied loudly.

The others moved up behind him, fanning out and preparing for action.

"Oh, yes, it was once. But it is mine now! Possession being the prominent point of the law and all that. I have yet to come up with a name for it, but no matter. Here, I am a king!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Rogers retorted, coming close enough to view the faces of those arrayed against them. Many were children and unknowns, but there were a few of the captured X-Men there, including Rogue. "You need to let all these people go, Piper."

"Um, is he really trying to negotiate here?" Spider-Man asked quietly.

"It's his thing, sense of fair play and all that," Barton quipped.

Rogers shot them both an irritated look but didn't reply.

"I'm so sorry, my dear Captain America, but that simply won't be happening." Piper stood up to reveal himself in all of his melodramatic stereotypically villain glory.

"Look, it's over Piper, you're not getting the last component you need," Rogers tried one last time. "Just give up now."

Piper grinned maniacally. "But Captain, I received the last an hour ago, thanks to my most promising burglars!"

Blink and Shadowcat moved forth through the crowd to stand by Piper's side.

"Damn," Stark groaned. "Friday, visual check on the component."

"Sorry boss, it's gone. No alarm was triggered."

"Blink portaled Shadowcat to my tower," Stark sighed. "And this time she didn't set off an alarm, must have lost what resistance she'd been able to put up. Dammit, I should have seen that coming."

"No time for recriminations, Stark," Rogers answered firmly. "You said it's still warming up, can you tell how long we have?"

"Fifteen minutes on the outside?"

"Right, then we need to shut it down."

"Oh, and Captain," Piper announced, "I should let you know, I have new recruits to play with you today!"

Figures moved through the crowd towards the front. Pyro, Iceman, and Surge were joined by the black-eyed figures of Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm.

"Well, shit," Barton murmured.

"So," Spider-Man commented, "on a scale of 'one' to 'without lube', just how screwed are we here?"

"You see my friends, it is a hopeless cause you fight for today! My destiny awaits me!" Piper giggled, a sound rather incongruous with his purple-and-black villain's attire.

"Your only destiny is my boot in your face, you delusional asshole!"

Caitlin walked past Rogers after her words, standing defiantly with her arms crossed. Rebecca stepped up next to her sister. "Repeatedly," the redheaded mutant added in a low resonant voice, dripping with the promise of violence.

"You!" Piper snarled. His previously jovial manner slipped away to be replaced by sheer unadulterated rage as if a switch had been flipped. "You both shall be the first to perish!" he screamed, spittle flying from his lips as he turned to command his enslaved minions.

"Kill them all!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that's the last of the warmup! Who's ready for a crazy-ass fight scene?
> 
> Stay shiny!


	8. Chapter 8

Somewhere in North Dakota

The crisp Dakota air hung heavy with anticipation as the two armies faced each other. The stillness actually lasted only a microsecond, stretching as only those moments can do before the storm breaks.

And then the clearing lit up with the brilliant flashes of energy.

Storm immediately took flight, raining lighting down on the grouped Avengers as they surged forward. Writhing forks of electricity grabbed at the pair of armored figures on either end, one gunmetal grey and the other brilliant red and gold. From below, Surge joined in with the attack, hoping to overwhelm the Avengers' hardest hitter, Iron Man.

Of course, as a certain Thunder God could have told them, such attacks have unintended results.

Stark's power systems peaked out at four hundred fifty percent capacity, even more than from Thor's attack, which quite frankly impressed the hell out of the billionaire. Unwilling to let such a bounty go without sharing, he fired his thrusters to soar up at Storm, causing her to veer away, and then landed in the midst of the army. He let loose with a concussive blast that knocked half of the assembled mutants back, most of them unconscious.

"Well, how about that," Stark murmured.

"Boss, watch your back-" Friday tried to warn him.

Iron Man was pummeled from behind from the metallic Colossus, knocking him onto his face. Before the large mutant could attack further, a nimble form slipped around, entwining her legs around his neck and dragging him to the ground.

"Didn't we do this dance already, Pete?" Caitlin panted from her sprint.

Rebecca skidded to a halt next to her. "Caitlin, stop playing. Break left."

The brunette rolled her eyes as her sister took off again. "Yes, mom," she muttered. She glanced down at Stark as he struggled to rise. "You need a hand up, old man?"

"No, Kitten, I'm good. Better jump off, though."

"Oh, right." Colossus was beginning to rise, so she hopped away just as Iron Man fired his chest repulsor beam, knocking the steely man across the battlefield and into Pyro, who was flinging bolts of fire at Captain America.

Caitlin continued on her run, dodging and sliding past combatants. She and her sister had one priority in the early stage of the fight, and that was to take out her friend Blink.

That was quickly becoming more difficult than they had anticipated.

The petite brunette had almost gotten a hand on her, but she'd slipped away yet again. Suddenly pain blossomed from her right thigh, and she looked down to see a slender spike protruding from it. Glancing up, the small girl saw a teenaged boy advancing on her. He seemed to pull another long black spike out of his forearm before flinging it at her.

Caitlin rolled to the side, pulling the other spike out as she went. "Clint, little help please!" she called out over the comm.

As she rose to her feet the boy had a spike in each hand, poised to throw. Suddenly an arrow latched onto his chest, splaying his arms to the side from the electrical surge and causing him to drop the spikes. After a heartbeat he collapsed to the ground, smoking slightly.

"Thank you!" she chirped, darting off to the side of the battlefield again.

She heard a roar overhead and looked up to see War Machine soar in at the machine in the middle. He opened up with his guns, allowing the full strength of his lethal firepower to bear, but his shots seemed to have no effect.

"I'm not getting to it!" Rhodes reported. "Seems to be some sort of force field!"

War Machine slammed into the invisible barrier and bounced off to drop into the tree line.

"Yeah," she heard him groan. "Definitely a force field."

"Stark, can you scan it?" Rogers barked.

"That's a neg, Cap, nothing shows up."

"Right. So something other than technological."

Caitlin diverted course to dive into Iceman, who was blasting Vision along with Surge. She managed to bowl him over, but he shot ice spikes out from his torso to make her back off. She made a backflip to avoid his follow-up strike.

"Cap, I don't know of any mutants with that kinda power," Caitlin gritted out. One ice blast hit her in the side, and she fell over into a roll. Before Bobby could take advantage of the situation, he was knocked sideways himself by a wave of energy from Wanda.

The Sokovian native was striding through the battlefield, her eyes glowing and her hair lifted by the ethereal currents of her power. She waved her hands about, blocking attacks and sending enemies flying from her. Occasionally she'd get close enough to lay a hand on their forehead, and the mutant would stiffen before falling unconscious.

"Are you good?" she shouted to Caitlin.

"Yeah, you?" she shouted back.

"Never better," Wanda replied grimly, throwing a blast to the side and sending Surge stumbling back. She put a shield up quickly to deflect the retaliatory bolt of electricity, but then Surge had to switch over to defend herself against a certain webslinger who was flinging himself about the clearing.

Wanda turned back to Caitlin and her eyes got wide. "Down!" she screamed.

The small brunette complied instantly, and a searingly red beam of light blasted through where she'd just been standing. Wanda had her shield up again and braced herself against the onslaught from Cyclops. The powerful mutant advanced forward, his hand on the side of his visor and intent on bringing the woman down.

Wanda let out a roar of anger as she pushed back, her hands held out in front of her, but her feet began to slide back ever so slowly.

Caitlin scrambled to her feet and flew at the man. He noticed her approach and switched over to pelt her with blasts from his visor instead. She nimbly dodged away, spinning and leaping, until Wanda recovered enough to hit him with a blast of her own. He went down hard, and the brunette woman wasted no time at all in levitating herself across to grab his head, knocking him out.

Of course, with her focus on her target, she never saw the attack on herself coming.

Rogue must have gotten ahold of both Pyro and Surge because the lancing beam of writhing electrical fire was unlike anything Caitlin had ever seen. It smashed into Wanda and lifted her off her feet, flinging her back to the ground again.

Biting back a curse, Caitlin was forced to flee in the other direction as Rogue turned her attention on her. "Wanda's down!" she called out.

"Vision has her, don't worry," Rogers reported. "Have you nailed down Blink yet?"

As she ran, a portal opened up in front of Caitlin. She dodged to the side just in time as a fireball soared out, exploding at the ground where she had been standing.

"I'm working on it," she growled irritably. "Becca, where are you?"

"Turn left, proceed thirty feet," came the terse reply.

She obliged, kicking out at Colossus while she passed as he traded blows with Iron Man once more. The giant man stumbled to the side, allowing Stark to hammer him with his repulsors again.

Then she finally came across her sister. The nimble redhead had thrown herself into the air, twisting to avoid the lightning that Storm was sending after her. Fortunately, that was short-lived, as Falcon soared in and tackled the weather-wielding mutant, sending the two of them crashing to the ground.

Rebecca landed at her target, right behind Blink before she could portal away. She grabbed the purple-haired girl with one arm to keep her close, and with the other slapped one of their precious few inhibitor collars on. Blink immediately sagged to the ground, but Rebecca's victory was short-lived.

"Becca, look out!" Caitlin screamed as she charged forward.

Faster than she thought possible, Wolverine was there, and thrust the claws from one hand into the redheaded girl's back, emerging through her chest.

"Nooo!" Caitlin howled, barreling into the stocky mutant. She took him to the ground, but he quickly pushed her off again. She dodged his first slash and spun out with a kick at his knee, causing him to stumble.

Caitlin glanced to the side where Rebecca was on all fours, her head down as she dripped blood into the dirt.

"Becca!" she called out to her sister.

"That… hurt…" Rebecca choked out.

Wolverine was up again, both clawed hands slashing out. Caitlin dodged to the side, pulling her sidearm out to try and slow him down. She sent two rounds into his leg, which didn't seem to faze him in the slightest before he took off the front inch of the barrel with a swipe.

"Heal faster, please!" she yelled desperately as she discarded her ruined weapon.

She figured if she was going to have any chance at all, she'd need to pull her own claws out.

Caitlin flung her hands to each side of her, fingers quickly lengthening to razor-sharp points, and screamed out a challenge. Wolverine accepted without a sound, meeting her with a clash of metal and talons.

She felt the side of her jumpsuit tear as Wolverine took a chunk out of her side, but her own claws ripped into his throat, staggering him to the side. She fell back as well, clutching her bleeding abdomen.

"Shit," she groaned painfully. "Becca?"

"I am… almost… there…"

"Anyone able to assist?" she asked, beginning to panic slightly as Wolverine stood back up, his throat already healing.

There wasn't any answer forthcoming, as the others were hotly contesting the battlefield in their own respective areas.

"Right," she muttered. "I go through more jumpsuits this way…"

The brunette girl crouched to the ground, and with a tear of fabric stretched out into the sleekly muscular form of a black panther.

She immediately leaped to the attack, tearing into Wolverine's left arm. He spun as she went by, slashing his adamantium claws at her impenetrable hide.

And drew long furrows of blood on the panther's flank.

Caitlin screamed in rage and agony from the attack. She spun, crouched low to the ground and growling. The injured pair circled each other, waiting for an opening, both of them already beginning to heal.

But then Wolverine sprouted a pair of knives from his right leg, causing him to stumble slightly. Caitlin wasted no time in rushing in, latching onto his injured left arm with her powerful jaws.

The mutant brought his right arm back to strike, but a slim redheaded girl was there, clinging tenaciously and pulling back with her feet braced against his backside.

Before he could react further, a battered and bloody Wanda flew in to grab hold of Wolverine's head from behind. He froze at first but then slumped to the ground.

"This will not hold him for long," Wanda panted.

Vision floated to the ground next to her. "Allow me to assist," he said, unruffled.

Rebecca stepped back to let the pair work. Bolts of electricity arced in towards them, but Wanda absently threw up a protective dome around them.

"Primary objective complete," Rebecca reported calmly. "Wolverine is also down."

"Good job, girls. Hit the next one if you can, we'll keep the others tied up."

Caitlin bumped her shoulder against Rebecca's leg. Seemingly understanding her intent, she asked a follow-up question. "Do we have any casualties so far?"

"Spider-Man and Barton are pretty banged up but functional. War Machine is grounded, his thrusters are out. Otherwise, we're good."

Rebecca gave Caitlin a pat on her flank as they walked forward. "See? You worry for nothing."

Caitlin the panther huffed loudly.

"Yes, you do so. Now, we should confront this madman and finish things, yes?"

The panther growled in agreement.

The sisters stalked forward, meeting little opposition. Just about all of the minor mutants had been stunned or knocked out, and it seemed some of the mid level ones as well. The battle might even be winding down were it not for some major hitters still opposing them.

"Dammit!" Rhodes yelled out over the comm. "That Shadowcat chick just pulled me halfway into the ground! I'm stuck!"

"I have her," Vision reported, soaring in overhead. His major task had been taking out Shadowcat, much as Caitlin and Rebecca's had been to remove Blink from the opposition. The small brunette mutant had proved to be elusive so far, not really taking part in combat.

Now, however, she was racing towards Barton, phasing herself to avoid his arrows. Before she could reach him, and while she was phased to avoid his last arrow, Vision struck with the mind gem, stunning her into corporeality and unconsciousness.

By that time Rebecca and Caitlin had arrived at the force field. "Captain, we are here," the redheaded girl reported. "There is a small girl sitting at the foot of the device. She is wearing what appears to be the Amulet of Tranquility."

"I'm guessing she's the source of this force field, then. Can you get through?"

Rebecca laid her hand on the invisible surface. It wasn't painful to touch, nor was it overly warm or cold. It just seemed to be there, an invisible surface that felt like nothing at all.

Caitlin took a running leap and threw herself forward, only to bounce off and roll to the ground. She growled irritably as she picked herself back up.

"Well, it was foolish anyway," Rebecca admonished her. "I could have told you that." She pulled a knife out and tried to scratch the surface without any result either. "No, Captain, there seems to be no physical way. Might I suggest Wanda's assistance?"

"Good thinking, Wanda get over to them and help."

The panther coughed a soft growl and bumped up against her sister.

"Why thank you, Caitlin," Rebecca smiled down at her.

Piper was pacing back and forth behind the force field, seemingly indifferent to the battle still raging. He was muttering to himself, and even with her enhanced hearing, Rebecca could not make out what he was saying.

There was a sound like a tree crashing to the ground, and both of them whirled to see Spider-Man lying crumpled to the ground. Storm was floating down towards the impact site, seemingly to finish him off.

Caitlin immediately leapt upwards, smashing into the woman and sprawling her across the ground. While she pinned her Rebecca ran up and hit her across the temple to knock her out.

"Anybody get the license plate off of that truck?" the webslinger groaned as he sat up. His red-and-blue suit was torn in several places, as was his skin. "Hey, am I hallucinating now? 'Cause it sure looks like I just got saved by a panther."

"That would be my sister," Rebecca smiled at him.

"Oh, no kidding. Well, she did mention that, didn't she." He shook his head groggily. "So what are we up to here, kids? I thought vamp-boy there would be squashed by now."

"He is behind a force field," Rebecca replied, her eyes roaming for threats. "Do you not have a communications device?"

"Nope, lost mine when the cute blue-haired girl tried to fry me. Well, the first time, anyways. She's had her eye on me, I can tell. See all the electrical burns?"

"I do see," Rebecca chuckled lightly. "When this is finished, I will be sure to tell Surge of your opinion of her."

"Oh, make sure you talk up how heroic I am. Y'know, brave and dashing Spidey, webslinging into danger…"

Caitlin coughed a soft growl that suspiciously sounded like a laugh.

"See, when you laugh at me like that," Spider-Man complained, "it sounds like you're mocking me."

"She is not," Rebecca assured him.

"If you say so. Oh, hey, the big metal guy is up and running again. I think I'll go see if Cap wants another dance partner. Catch you around, girls!" With that, the webslinger was soaring off on another strand.

Rebecca looked down at her sister. "You really should not mock him so."

Caitlin huffed and flexed her claws.

Wanda finally flew in, chased by a barrage of ice that smashed up against her shields. The assault cut off as Barton began to pelt him with concussive arrows. Bobby threw up another ice barrier, but one of Hawkeye's projectiles was incendiary and quickly melted through. The pain of the molten arrow landing on his frozen skin distracted Bobby enough that he couldn't avoid the follow-up stunner.

"Yeah, that's right," Barton murmured. "I got all the toys…"

Wanda stood in front of the force field and closed her eyes. Her hands were splayed across the surface and her brow furrowed in concentration. Whatever she was doing was enough to finally get Piper's attention, as his head snapped up to regard her.

A moment later, both Rebecca and Caitlin had their hands full of violent mutants.

Pyro and Surge raced in at them, flinging their attacks wildly. Rebecca danced to the side, trusting in Wanda's shielding to protect herself, while Caitlin charged straight in. Surge veered away at the last second to reveal Rogue racing in behind her. The mutant woman's skin had a metallic shine to it, and her fists were wreathed in fire.

Caitlin took the hit on her wounded flank and screamed in agony. The panther whirled around, bumping into Johnny to knock him off-balance, but then she was slammed into by the towering form of Colossus. She sailed backwards, rolling to a stop next to Rebecca, panting from the pain.

The panther's form shimmered to reveal a naked brunette girl crouched by her sister's feet.

"So, yeah, that sucked," she commented wryly.

"It is about to suck more," Rebecca replied calmly, eyeing Pyro, Surge, Rogue, and Colossus as they closed in around them. "Some assistance would be greatly appreciated, please."

"It's on the way," Rogers replied tersely over the comm.

And then a lithe redhead form was leaping up onto the back of Colossus, the piping on her torn black jumpsuit glowing blue. Natasha plunged both fists down onto either side of his head, causing him to rear back in agony before collapsing onto his face.

Pyro turned, readying himself with a blast of fire, but was in turn hit by an electrified arrow from Barton. His back arched before he sank to the ground, motionless as well.

Surge began to fire her electricity around wildly. Caitlin noted that she was beginning to wind down, without power outlets or the like she was likely running close to empty. Natasha rolled to the side to avoid a strike, and both Caitlin and Rebecca had to jump away, but then Captain America's shield shot in to knock her hands off-target. She turned to face the new threat only to meet Rogers' fist with her face.

Rogue was the only one left standing, though barely at that. What power she'd borrowed must have worn off as she was kneeling on the ground, head downcast and panting from exhaustion and pain. Vision gently settled in next to her and laid a calming hand on the top of her head. She fell to the side with her eyes closed, unmoving.

The rest of the Avengers gathered around. Rhodes was out of his suit, having been unable to free it from the ground's embrace.

"Cat, you seem to be having a wardrobe malfunction," Barton chuckled wearily.

The brunette sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine," she grumbled, shifting back into a panther.

"You are much more intimidating in this form, anyway," Rebecca reassured her.

The area in front of Wanda finally glowed a deep red, and she moved herself past the edge of the forcefield. She knelt in front of the little girl and gently placed a hand on the side of her face. The small mutant yawned and curled up on her side.

Wanda stood and faced the others. "The force field is down."

"Good timing," Stark murmured as he settled down on his thrusters. "Two minutes to spare. Now let's have a chat with the drama king."

Piper was sitting on this throne, glaring at the heroes still standing, his face contorted with madness and rage. "This is not the end for me," he snarled, before suddenly leaping to his feet. "I will not be conquered, do you hear me?" he screamed. "I still control all of them, all of my minions, my army! Even now they stir to bring the fight again!"

Having had enough of the madman's ranting, Caitlin stalked forward, her belly low to the ground and growling loudly enough to be heard across the clearing.

Piper stumbled backwards fearfully. "No, no, now that's not playing fair, I'm the general, you see, you can't touch me…"

Rebecca walked up and laid a hand on Caitlin's back, stroking the fur between her shoulderblades. "I believe this time I may… call dibs, is it not?"

Caitlin huffed and gave a small purr.

"Thank you, Caitlin," the redheaded girl smiled. She walked up to the now-cowering Pied Piper and, without saying a word, gave him an uppercut hard enough to lift him up on his toes. The sound of his jaw breaking was clear to all those assembled, and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head before he flopped backwards inelegantly.

"Nice one, Red!" Stark cheered. "Hey, anyone know of a shawarma place nearby?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's the big fight scene. I had to tweak quite a bit, and actually drop some parts that made it much more confusing. I mean, I know a big battle will be mass confusion anyways, but it doesn't have to read that way… Next up is the conclusion chapter!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	9. Chapter 9

Somewhere in North Dakota

Caitlin walked through the aftermath of the battle, her hands in the pockets of her ill-fitting bulky jumpsuit that had been loaned to her, though she was barefoot still. There were many immobile forms laying about on stretchers, but many more were up and roaming about now.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent in medical transports with the personnel to help with the injured mutants. Vision and Wanda had already blocked the Pied Piper's power through their combined efforts, breaking his influence over those he had enslaved and allowing them their free will back once more.

_I'm amazed, really. Not a single fatality on either side._

_/It went much better than anyone expected, I think./_

_Yeah, it did, Chris. Why do I feel so… I dunno, antsy then?_

_/Cat, this was a difficult fight. Even if you suppressed thoughts of the consequences of what you were doing, you were fighting your friends. And yes, they could have been seriously injured or killed. But it was a chance that had to be taken./_

_I suppose so. Maybe that's it, I'm feeling… what, guilty for putting them at risk?_

_*Or maybe for letting them be taken in the first place?*_

_Well, there wasn't all that much I could have done… Oh._

_/I think Eric's right on that account. You should go talk to Rogue./_

_Yeah. Yeah, I should._

She changed direction to head for where the X-Men were ensconced. The brunette girl glanced over towards where Stark and a gang of technicians oversaw the dismantling of the device that Piper had built. He gave a wave towards her as she passed, and she returned it with a half smile and a small wave of her own.

_/At least you managed to patch that up./_

_Well, it helps that he's not, I dunno… mocking me as much?_

_/I don't know that he really did it before, actually. At least not with the intent to mock./_

_No, you're right. I think I've been monumentally overreacting to the man. He's just so… so…_

_*Frustrating? Obnoxious? Childish?*_

_Well, yeah. Keep going, though, any other good adjectives come to mind?_

_*Endearing? Loyal?*_

_...Dammit. Well played, Eric, well played._

A little further on she came across Kitty who was bringing War Machine's suit back up out of the ground. Rhodes stood by, looking highly irritated and with his arms crossed.

"Rhodey, you're not giving Shadowcat a hard time now, are you?"

"No, of course not, why shouldn't I be ecstatic to have my suit half-buried…"

"Rhodey…" Caitlin warned.

"No, I'm not, we're good, Cat."

Kitty glanced back at her and shot her a wink which reassured her somewhat.

_/You know Kitty, she can hold her own./_

_True enough._

She finally came upon the far side of the clearing where one of the medical transports had settled down. At the edge of the group of milling mutants, she came across a few familiar faces.

"Cat!" Blink exclaimed wanly. She rushed in to give her a tight hug. "I am so, so sorry for everything…"

"Don't you start," Caitlin admonished. She glanced up to regard the others clustered there, Surge, Peter, Bobby, and Johnny. "Don't any of you feel bad, okay? None of you had a choice. If anything, I should apologize for playing a part in all this, putting you at risk…"

"And now you're being foolish," Blink smiled as she leaned back. "We are so grateful to you, all of you, for rescuing us. Seriously, being under his control…"

"Yeah," Caitlin replied softly. "Becca told me some of it. Um, have you seen Rogue?"

Bobby took a step forward and smiled apologetically. "She's over on the other side of this med ship. Becca's talking to her about, um, I think why you had to rescue her and not Rogue."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Okay, well, lemme go talk to her too." She started to walk past but laid a hand on Bobby's arm, knowing the strength of his feelings for his girlfriend. "Bobby, I _am_ sorry… that I had to leave her…"

"I know, Cat," he smiled. "I don't hold you responsible any, and if I know Rogue, neither will she."

She nodded and walked around the edge of the ship, leaving her friends behind. Caitlin quickly came upon Rogue and her sister, sitting side by side on a supply crate. When she saw her, Rogue immediately got up and hurried over to enfold her in a hug.

"Ah don't blame you none, hon," she murmured. "Ah understand why you had to do what you did, alright?"

"Well," Caitlin murmured back. "I'm sorry anyways."

Rogue laughed lightly and then sat back down next to Rebecca. "It's all good, Cat, so long as the children got away. They were my responsibility."

Rebecca's eyes widened at what she saw behind Caitlin and she quickly rose to her feet, her arms folded nervously in front of her. The brunette girl turned to see Wolverine striding up.

"Hey, Logan, how are you feeling?" Caitlin asked warmly.

"Better, kid, 'specially without jerk-ass in my head anymore," he grumbled. He stepped up and pulled her into a quick hug. "Ya done real good, both of ya. Some impressive fightin' skills."

Caitlin laughed as she stepped back. "Yeah, well, my side says otherwise. Still aches a little, even after transforming."

"Did I remember that right, my claws went through your hide as a panther?"

"Yeah… I suppose it shouldn't surprise me any, I mean, I'm pretty sure armor-piercing bullets can, so why not your claws, right?"

"Yeah, true," the stocky man muttered. He sighed and looked over at Rebecca, who was hanging back anxiously. "So, I hear you managed to get some of my DNA, huh, kid?"

"Um, yes, sir, Mr. Logan," the redhead replied hesitantly.

"None of that, still just Logan, an' I ain't gonna bite ya none. C'mere."

Rebecca shuffled over to stand next to her sister, staring at the man with her wide pale green eyes.

"Y'know there's another one like you, right? Name of Laura?"

"I did hear that, yes."

"Might be helpful if you were to look her up, if she ever gets back to the States. She's somewhere in Europe right now with Remy. But, yeah…" He glanced off to the side somewhat uncomfortably. "Look, I dunno if you thought of it at all, but me an' Laura… well, we're kinda family now, more 'r less. You can be part of it too if ya like."

Caitlin slipped her arm around her sister and gave her an encouraging hug. Rebecca slid her arm around her as well and returned her smile.

"I... appreciate the offer… Logan. But I have all the family I need right here." Her smile widened as she saw the tears glisten in Caitlin's eyes. "And she completes me."

Logan smiled at the pair. "Yeah, I kinda figured that. Wanted to make the offer anyway."

"Dammit," Caitlin sniffled. "Now you're gonna make me cry, dork."

"I am not the dork."

"Oh, what, you're saying I am?"

Logan chuckled as he walked off, leaving the pair of girls, their arms still around each other, as they bickered good-naturedly.

"That is precisely what I am saying."

"Uh-huh. And of the two of us, who's the _Twilight_ fangirl, hmm?"

"...That does not make me a dork."

"Such a dork!" Caitlin giggled in a sing-song voice.

"I take my earlier praise back. You are highly irritating."

"Can't take it back, we're sisters, no getting rid of me now..."

* * *

Epilogue

Vision didn't spend much time in his room, really. It was sparsely furnished and decorated, not much to really convey the fact that it was habited. Wanda had been trying to help him with that, and now a single painting graced a wall of the room. It showed the back of a young woman in a yellow sundress, her blonde hair loose and blowing in the wind, as she sat on a grassy hill and watched the clouds in the sky.

He couldn't say exactly why the picture moved him so much. But it did, and it called to him in a way. He often spent the evenings just staring at it and letting his processors defrag from the day.

This evening he was startled by a hesitant knock on his door. Curious, he walked over to open it.

Caitlin and Rebecca were standing there, the latter with her usual imperturbability while the former seemed slightly nervous.

"Hi, Vision," the brunette began quietly. "Are we interrupting you?"

"Not at all Caitlin, Rebecca. Please, come in."

The sisters entered and looked around curiously. Rebecca walked over to the painting and stood in the same position that he had been. "This is a beautiful painting," she murmured.

"Wow," Caitlin murmured in almost the exact same tone of wonder. "Yeah, it is." She stepped over to stand next to her sister. Both of them had the same pose, feet together and arms wrapped around their middle as they gazed at the wall.

Vision remained still and observed the pair. It was curious, really, how similar they could be to himself sometimes. Perhaps that was why the painting called to them as well. He wished he could understand why it did so.

But he had plenty of time to discern the nature of it.

After a full five minutes, Vision took a single step forward. "Was there something you wished to discuss?" he asked softly.

Caitlin jumped with a start, almost guiltily, while Rebecca simply turned and regarded him with her pale green eyes, identical to her sister's.

"Um, yeah, sorry…" the brunette said. She shuffled her feet slightly. "So, we were wondering something, and if this isn't a good idea, just please tell us, we won't be offended or anything, or if you're offended tell us that too, 'cause we don't want to do that either…"

Rebecca sighed softly, a slight smile forming on her lips as she glanced at her sister. "We would like to know how your mind link works. Specifically, if you would be able to share a memory between two people while serving as a conduit."

Vision tilted his head thoughtfully. "That is an interesting notion. I have not tried it before, but theoretically yes, it should work. Would you like to try this?"

"If you could please," Caitlin nodded politely. "Um, it's my memory, and I wanted to share it with Becca, obviously."

"Obviously," Vision smiled. "Why don't we sit on the floor in a circle. Physical contact will be necessary."

As they settled down, Vision entertained a brief surge of curiosity. "How did you come to think of this?"

"Oh, well, we were talking about some stuff," Caitlin admitted. "And then I just kinda speculated on how nice it would be to actually share what I remembered…"

"And then I thought of you," Rebecca finished. "We were not sure if this would be possible."

"I believe it is. Let us try." Vision held his hands out, and the sisters each clasped one with their own hands while taking hold of each other. He closed his eyes and focused. "If you would please, try to think of something simple."

Caitlin grinned and nodded her head. Vision could see the image fleetingly as it moved across until Rebecca let out a startled laugh. "That is myself and Sam," she exclaimed quietly. "Is that how we look together?"

"Yep," Caitlin snickered. "I keep tellin' you, you're both adorable."

"Well, that was quite successful," Vision commented. "Now then, how about we try for the memory you were hoping to share."

"Great, thanks, Vision," the brunette said. She exhaled and closed her eyes.

"Okay then, Becca," she whispered. "This was our sister Andrea…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there we go! Hope you enjoyed the ride. I've got a little more planned for Cat & Becca, but for now, many thanks for reading!
> 
> Stay shiny!


End file.
